Half of employers monitor employee Internet and email usage, an increase from 47 percent last year.
Employers will be especially busy this season, as 50 percent of employees plan to spend some work time for online holiday shopping, according to a recent CareerBuilder survey.
Thirty-four percent of employees are expected to spend one hour or more shopping, which is up from 27 percent in 2010, and 16 percent are projected to spend two or more hours, a jump from 13 percent in 2010.
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"Most companies assume their employees use some of their break time on the Internet for shopping, checking social networks and other general browsing, but when it starts adding up, workers need to be aware of company policies and any potential consequences," says Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder. "With more companies limiting or restricting online activity, e-shopping season is as good a time as any to be mindful of our Internet usage at work."
The survey also finds that 65 percent of workers spend at least some time during the typical workday conducting nonwork-related Web searches, and 22 percent of workers search for nonwork-related topics on the Web at least five times a day. Another 22 percent of employers have fired an employee for using the Internet for nonwork-related activity, which is similar to results in 2010. Of the HR managers survey, 7 percent say they have fired an employee for holiday shopping, and 54 percent of employers block employees from accessing certain websites, an increase from 50 percent in 2010.
Regarding social media use, 56 percent of employees on social networks check their accounts during their typical workdays, which is up from 49 percent in 2010. Among this group, 15 percent spend at minimum one hour a day browsing. Thirty-two of employers forbid employees from communicating about the company on social media, and 25 percent of employers say they are enforcing stricter policies relating to employees communicating about the company on social media.
For email use, 61 percent of workers say they send personal emails during the typical workday, a slight uptick from 59 percent in 2010, and 19 percent of workers say they send more than five personal emails a day. Twenty-eight percent of employers monitor emails, and 8 percent of employers say they have fired someone for personal emails.
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