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Newsworthy computer gaffes have triggered everything from tumbling stock prices to six-figure regulatory fines to billion-dollar legal settlements to media feeding frenzies. The best advice: manage your organization's electronic liabilities today or risk disaster tomorrow.
E-Policy Fact: When it comes to inappropriate computer use, employers are primarily concerned about inappropriate Web surfing, with 76% monitoring workers' Website connections. Fully 65% of organizations use a solution like iPrism from St. Bernard, www.stbernard.com, to block access to inappropriate Websites. Source: 2005 Electronic Monitoring & Surveillance Survey from American Management Association and The ePolicy Institute.
Put Best Practices to Work with the 3-Es of Electronic Risk Management
Employers who are committed to preventing accidental and intentional Internet, P2P, email and IM abuse and reducing electronic risk are advised to put best practices to work and focus on the Three Es of Electronic Risk Management:
1. Establish comprehensive, clearly written Internet, P2P, email and IM rules, policies and procedures for all employees, from the summer intern to the CEO. Make sure your organization's company wide electronic policies are easy for employees to access, understand and adhere to. Avoid vague language that may leave your policy open to individual employee interpretation. Update your written Internet, P2P, email and IM policies annually to ensure that you have rules, policies and procedures in place to govern new and growing risks such as blogging and other emerging technologies.
E-Policy Fact: While 79% of US employers have an email policy, only 20% have written rules governing IM use and content. Source: 2004 Workplace Email and Instant Messaging Survey from American Management Association and The ePolicy Institute.
2. Educate employees. Support your written Internet, P2P, email and IM rules and policies with E-Policy company wide employee training. Make sure employees understand that policy compliance is Best Practices mandatory. Thanks to e-policy training, you may find your employees more compliant and the courts more accepting of the fact that you have made a reasonable effort to keep your Overview (cont) organization free from discrimination, harassment, hostility, and other objectionable behavior.
E-Policy Fact: Based on the legal principle of vicarious liability, an employer may be held responsible for the accidental or intentional misconduct of employees. That should be a wake-up call to the 46% of employers who do not educate employees about electronic risks, rules and compliance. The courts tend to look favorably on organizations that establish written policy and educate employees. An Internet/P2P/email/IM policy and training program may provide your organization with a defense against a sexual harassment claim or hostile work environment lawsuit. Sources: 2004 Workplace Email and Instant Messaging Survey from American Management Association and The ePolicy Institute; Instant Messaging Rules by Nancy Flynn (Amacom 2004).
3. Enforce your written Internet, P2P, email, and IM rules and policies with a combination of disciplinary action and software. If you have any doubt about your employees' willingness to adhere to the organization's usage and content rules, consider applying a technological solution to your people problem. By installing an appliance solution like iPrism from St. Bernard, www.stbernard.com, which works in concert with your Internet policies, you can block access to inappropriate sites and stay on top of employees' online activity.
Consistently apply discipline to show employees that management is serious about email policy compliance. Failure to discipline employees for email-related misconduct may encourage other employees to abuse the system and could create liability concerns for the organization.
E-Policy Fact: Employers are getting tougher about electronic policy compliance: 26% have terminated employees for Internet abuse; another 25% have fired employees for misusing the organization's email system. Source: 2005 Electronic Monitoring & Surveillance Survey from American Management Association and The ePolicy Institute.
Employers' Greatest Fear? Workplace Lawsuits
When it comes to employees' use of the Internet, 68% of employers cite legal liability as their number-one concern, according to American Management Association and The ePolicy Institute. This statistic is no surprise. Web surfing and email messages create the electronic equivalent of DNA evidence. If your organization becomes embroiled in a workplace lawsuit or a class action suit claiming a hostile work environment or sexual harassment, you can count on opposing legal counsel reading your employees' email messages and reviewing their Internet surfing history.
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