Public Employee Press

Beware the Internet:
Big Brother is watching

By GREGORY N. HEIRES

Think twice before using eBay at work. With surfing the Web and sending e-mail so commonplace nowadays, many workers mistakenly assume it’s OK to venture freely into cyberspace on the job.

But the reality is that you should be very careful about going online at work. In the Internet age, employers are increasingly citing excessive or inappropriate Internet use to reprimand, fine and fire employees.

“Be cautious,” said DC 37 General Counsel Eddie M. Demmings.

“Take a close look at your agency’s rules. You may be surprised to find out about a lot of restrictions, which management has the right to impose because, after all, you are using their equipment.”

Electronic snooping
It’s not uncommon, of course, for employees to send personal e-mails from work. These days, many of us are as comfortable with electronic communications as we are with Alexander Graham Bell’s device.

But just as you can be disciplined forexcessive or improper phone use, you can be subject to charges — and even lose your job — for your e-mail use. Sometimes, management uses e-mail and Internet history to go after employees they want to discipline or get rid of for other reasons.

The downside of using the Internet at work became clear in May when Schools Chancellor Joel Klein fired a personnel manager who had been brought up on charges for excessive Web surfing, lateness and leaving work early.

An administrative law judge, in a non-binding opinion, recommended that the charges be dropped in part because the “Internet has become the modern equivalent of a telephone or a daily newspaper, providing a combination of communication and information that most employees use as frequently in their personal lives as for their work.”

Worried by reports that members had taken the ALJ’s opinion as a green light to use the Internet as they please, Data Processing Personnel Local 2627 has used its shop stewards’ network and Web site (www.local2627.org) to warn members to be wary. Clerical-Administrative Local 1549 and others have also advised members about their use of city computers.

“We emphasized that the judge’s recommendation was not binding and therefore cannot be relied upon to justify surfing the Web at work for personal use,” Local 2627 President Edward W. Hysyk said. As leaders of a local of computer workers, Hysyk and Vice President Gary Goff have a natural interest incyberspace and the workplace. And as union leaders, they take the subject very seriously. Over the years, they have often defended members on grave charges involvingalleged inappropriate or excessive Internet use.

“You should just assume Big Brother is watching,” said Goff. “It’s an unfortunate reality of the modern workplace that employers can monitor your e-mail and Web site visits.”

Whenever possible, the local has managed to convince agencies to drop charges or at least lessen the blow of disciplinary action. In some instances, the union has saved members’ jobs.

“There are misconceptions out there,” Hysyk said. “Some people believe you are free to surf the Web during your legitimate break time or meal time. But you really don’t have any legal ‘right’ to do that, so be very careful.”

Taboo: porn, stock trades
“There is a big gray area here,” he added. “Of course agencies should be reasonable about personal use of the Internet and e-mail and we will always defend our members. But you need to know your agency’s policy and be aware of the accepted practices in your office, or you could run into trouble.”

Prohibited uses typically include on-line stock transactions, unauthorized political activity, conducting personal business, buying consumer goods, sending mass e-mails, creating or downloading unauthorized video, sound or digital images, and viewing and downloading pornographic or discriminatory material over the Internet. The local has defended workers who have been confronted by management with records of hundreds of visits to porn sites.

Hysyk noted that some workers believe they can cover their tracks by erasing their Internet history and deleting e-mails.

“You may think you have gotten rid of your electronic trail, but most agencies have software that monitors your computer use and can restore deleted files,” he said.