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Nebraska Internet Gambling and Porn

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Is internet gambling and porn a concern for

Nebraska employers?

Both in Nebraska and nationwide, when employees use company computers and company time for uses like these, productivity and discrimination problems can arise.

Your firm can set a strong policy on surfing for internet pornography and gambling on the job, by declaring them “gross misconduct” that allows for immediate firing.

Companies can also use software programs designed to block access to certain kinds of sites, like porn, gambling, and music pirating. While these programs are not completely effective – they may also block useful sites in the process – they may be worth considering.

Performance on the job is an issue that must be faced. A worker who spends half a day at a porn or gambling site is unlikely to be as productive as possible.

There is also the problem of the “hostile work environment.” Inadvertent or not, if another employee is exposed to a colleague’s pornographic web surfing, especially on a regular basis, that can constitute sexual discrimination and a hostile work environment. It can happen when one employee passes another’s computer and sees the content, or borrows another worker’s computer and sees the pornography.

There are ways to detect the history of a computer’s Internet use. But it is hard to prove which employee may have done that surfing, particularly in a shared computer environment. Employees can also delete their surfing history. A network administrator, however, can view an employee’s computer screen undetected, showing your firm exactly who is doing the offensive browsing or gambling.

About 10% of men and 1% of women office workers admit checking pornography from their work computers on company time, according to an MSN-Zogby survey recently.

But workers also admit to other private activities on company time, like looking for new work online, paying bills, and taking personal calls in meetings.

The problems involved should be balanced against the larger picture. Regardless of the fact that some time is lost in these ways, the computer and Internet’s increase in productivity overall outweighs those losses. It would be unwise to ban the Internet from the workplace.