Study finds that monitoring of computer and telephone usage in the workplace is on the rise.

Date published: 8/13/2005

By PORTSIA SMITH

Employee e-mail, Internet searches and instant messages typed at the office create written records that are very similar to DNA evidence.

If they can be traced back to the crime--inappropriate use of company equipment or time--they can get you fired.

That may be more likely now that businesses are taking added steps to monitor their workers' computer and telephone behavior, according to a surveillance study.

The 2005 Electronic Monitoring and Surveillance Survey, conducted by the American Management Association and the ePolicy Institute, says employers monitor computer use in various ways.

Out of more than 500 companies surveyed, 36 percent of employers track content, keystrokes and time spent at the keyboard. About 76 percent supervise Web-site connections, 50 percent review employee computer files and 55 percent retain e-mail messages.

Far fewer record employees' voice messages, with 15 percent reporting that they tape or review voicemail.

Chip German, vice president for information technologies and chief information officer at the University of Mary Washington, said UMW employees and most Virginia state workers are under the same rules.

"Everything you do on our network is the property of the commonwealth of Virginia," he said. "We have a policy that allows us to conduct monitoring, but as an institution we choose not to do that except in certain circumstances."

German also added that just because e-mails are deleted doesn't mean they can't be retrieved.

"When you delete something, soon it will be gone, but it may not be deleted as soon as you delete it because of normal system backups," he said.

Jeni Tarmon, human resources manager of Intuit's call center in Stafford County, said the tax-software builder monitors computer screens and all telephone calls for coaching purposes.

"It's one of the metrics we use to measure performance," she said. "Our employees know it right up, so there is a mutual agreement and understanding."

According to the study, most employers have a policy and let workers know they are being watched. Policies can be communicated several ways, including in an employee handbook, via memos or in union contracts.

In all, 86 percent of those surveyed said they inform employees that they are reviewing e-mails, and 89 percent alert them that their Web usage is being tracked.

Still, written policies have not prevented abuse.

The study also shows that 57 percent of these employers have fired workers for misusing e-mail, the Internet and office phones.

One in five employers has had e-mail subpoenaed by courts, and 13 percent have faced lawsuits involving employee e-mail, the organizations reported.

Bob Jensen, director of human resources at MediCorp, said employees at Mary Washington Hospital have been terminated because of equipment misuse.

"We are currently in the process of reviewing and putting in a stronger policy so we have a little more control on what the disciplinary action would be for abuse," Jensen said.

To reach PORTSIA SMITH: 540/374-5419 psmith@freelancestar.com

Date published: 8/13/2005