How to Keep Employees From Surfing the Internet

Internet surfing may seem like a harmless hobby, but when it takes place on company time, it can have serious and costly consequences for business owners. More and more companies are monitoring the internet activities of their employees with internet policies.

Here are some ways you can keep an eye on and discourage web-surfing employees and some good reasons to do so.

Establishing an internet policy at work

Your first step is to establish a policy that covers what is allowable in both email and internet activity. Employee emails leave your company wide open to a host of legal issues and liability. Moreover, any slanderous or defaming sentiment sent by an employee over a company's email system or via instant messaging could put your entire company at risk.

Let employees know that they should not expect privacy when using the company's internet. Some companies have implemented restrictive policies that grant internet access to employees on a case-by-case and site-by-site basis. While this type of policy makes sense for certain industries, it's almost impossible for others. But whatever policy you develop, distribute copies to each employee and have them acknowledge in writing that they have received and read it.

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Block access to certain websites

If you determine there is a problem, you can selectively block access to certain "families" of sites, such as shopping, auction, or sports websites. Blocking objectionable content can also minimize your company's legal exposure.

Remind employees about the company internet policy

Many companies hammer home their internet policy every time a user logs on to the network. As part of the log-on process, users are presented with a dialogue box summarizing the policy and reminding them that "the use of this system may be monitored and recorded for administrative and security reasons." To proceed, a user must agree by clicking the OK button.

Whatever solution you arrive at, it will only be effective if monitored and stringently maintained.

RELATED: The 4 Biggest Reasons Why Your Company Needs an Official Social Media Policy