Create an Internet Usage Policy that Works for You

No matter how large or small your company, if you have employees and supply them with an at-work Internet connection, chances are you also have Internet misuse issues. In fact, recent surveys show that at-work Internet users spend an average of 21 hours per month online, more than double the amount of time spent online by at-home Internet users. While some employees may be using this online time to conduct actual business, many more are using their at-work Internet connection for personal use.

For you as a business owner or manager, this misuse costs your company thousands of dollars each year. Consider this
example: if an employee who earns $35,000 annually is spending 20% of his or her time being unproductive on the Internet, that equals $7,000 lost out of your payroll. Now multiply that amount by the number of employees at that
salary level who misuse the Internet. Next, add to that figure 20% of your organization’s share of Social Security payments, unemployment taxes, and worker’s compensation insurance, and the true amount lost can be staggering. a href="http://www.fosterinstitute.com/articles/intmisuse/pdf/im05_create%20an%20internet%20usage%20policy%20that%20works%20for%20you.pdf" target="_blank">Download this article in PDF format.

Posted by Mike Foster in Management Articles on Sep 13, 2006.