Given the big turnout on Black Friday, Cyber Monday is expected to be a shopping bonanza. But unlike Friday’s buying frenzy, most of you shopping today are shopping at work during work time and maybe even on a work computer.
Should you be doing this or not?
Alas, the answer isn’t that easy.
The lines between work and personal lives have blurred thanks to technological advances such as texting and e-mail, giving workers the ability to work anywhere and any time. And during a grueling recession many workers are working harder and longer. So, when do you have time to shop or do any other personal stuff? Work time of course.
A 2009 survey by the ePolicy Institute and the American Management Association found that 79 percent of employees had used e-mail to send or receive personal messages.
You can try to hide your personal use of work computers, but good luck with that.
According to ePolicy Institute’s surveys, co-sponsored by the AMA:
* 83 percent of employers have rules and policies in place restricting personal use of company equipment.
* 28 percent of employers have fired workers for e-mail misuse, and of those, 26 percent said it was for “excessive personal use.”
* Of the companies that monitor e-mail, 73 percent use technology tools to automatically monitor e-mail and 40 percent manually read and review e-mails.
The courts have found you basically have few privacy rights at work.
“The conventional wisdom has been that if the employer owns the equipment or system, they can do whatever they want,” said Ann Hodges, professor of law at the University of Richmond.
Many company handbooks say you’re not allowed to use work equipment for personal use. But let’s face reality, everybody does, including your boss.
That doesn’t mean you won’t get fired, or reprimanded for doing so. You can be fired or demoted for any reason in most states and at most employers. If your boss wants you out, she or he can use any excuse to do so. (They can not, however, fire you because of your age, gender, race or religion.)
That said, most smart managers know to expect some shopping and other personal matters handled during work time. You just don’t want to go overboard.
Here are some tips from Monster+HotJobs‘ senior editor Charles Purdy on how do cyber shop without making too many workplace waves:
· Early bird. Arrive early to check the sales and do any “pre-shopping,” then do the actual shopping on your lunch break. Let your boss know if you think that’s necessary–or even just announce to the surrounding cubes that you’re “Hitting the online sales now instead of going out to lunch. I’ll let you know if I find any good deals!” This lets coworkers know not to look askance if they walk by your cube and see that you’re looking at a store.
· Keep it personal. Use your personal email address and phone number when placing or tracking any orders online—don’t clutter your work email with coupons and other store offerings.
· When in doubt, ask. When using your work computer for any personal activities including online shopping, you should do it on your own time like at lunch or in the evening after work. As far as “getting permission” from your boss, it really depends completely on the type of place you work. Some companies don’t mind if employees shop online while they’re “on the clock”–others have policies against it.
· Make up your time. If you are paid hourly, that is, “punch a clock,” then your employer is definitely not going to want to pay you for online shopping–so clock out to shop. If you’re a salaried employee, just be sure to make up the time.
· Use your BlackBerry. If your employer frowns upon online shopping, you can try to use mobile sites on your iPhone or BlackBerry. And even if you are allowed to engage in online shopping, make sure the sites you wish to shop on come up on your work computer. Certain sites could be blocked, which could foil your Cyber Monday plans.
But again, I stress, your boss may still end up using your shopping spree against you. So think long and hard before you take out the credit card at work. If you have any doubts, just wait until you get home tonight.
November 29th, 2010 at 12:32 pm
One thing I believe my employer has done well is its Internet use policy. It acknowledges and allows for limited and periodic personal use, but reserves the right to limit personal use and even to revoke personal use (temporarily or permanently) in cases of misuse.
That said, I’ve also recently been asked to research products we can run here that will log all user Internet access, so management may review (on an ongoing basis) just how much employees are on non-business sites. We’ve had a few isolated problems in the past, but now senior management is concerned that it is becoming a broader problem.
November 29th, 2010 at 1:43 pm
Interesting HIkingStick. I think employers are looking for every which way to get the most our of workers so they’re probably thinking web surfing is eating away at work time.
I think such measures are ill conceived and don’t take into account how much technology has blurred the work-life lines. And such measures don’t make for a happy workforce. And we all know a happy workforce is a productive workforce.
November 29th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
Agreed. I use the web the way others I’ve known have used crossword puzzles, coffee breaks, or smoke breaks–they are the little diversions that let me reset my thinking, so I can approach a topic with renewed energy and a fresh set of eyes (so to speak).
December 1st, 2010 at 3:04 am
‘'’Many company handbooks say you’re not allowed to use work equipment for personal use. But let’s face reality, everybody does, including your boss.”'’
My friend owns a very old garage. He worked there as a kid and it was old then and now he has about 12 bays and because of reputation, rarely are they not filled with cars. He sells a lot of tires. It is his niche. On line you can purchase any tire you want and they pick up the shipping charges and have you come in for your tire change when they arrive. It is a good business strategy that keeps his business working although he says he does not make as much as he used to. Here is the reason this post fits in, my pal is 60, almost a dozen years older than me. He has been blind because of diabetes since he was in his mid 30’s and has never surfed the net. He allows his mechanics total access to several computers there. It was his mechanic’s idea to use the many tire clearing house sites and direct buys on tires. They do about 95% of all the mechanical work on cars. They don’t do much for radiators though. He only asks his mechanics that while they are not working on cars or cleaning up their bays, they mark that as time he won’t pay them. If you want to go home, go home. In the 20 years I’ve taken my cars and such to him. There has been an occasional unsuccessful attempt at a fix. One time a used radial I bought off him to pass state inspection kept losing air. I told him that, he said it was a used tire so I bought another one for $20.
He hired a mechanic years who was desperate for work and he told him he am just out of jail, he forged a check for $5000 and got caught. The kid said he served his 8 months of a 16 month sentence and his parole officer verified it. He also verified his cocaine habit is not a factor now, the kid was clean. The other mechanics watched him like a jail guard for years. I knew him about five years before he actually told me of his struggles. His nick name is ‘Nose’ for obvious reasons. He likes to visit web sites with naked ladies so according to my pal the owner, if you are over 18 you can use Nose’s computer in the back room!!
All this is true. It makes me feel good to have my car serviced by this unique, yet common, old fashioned garage. It reminds you that there are a lot of good things that are right in the world.
January 23rd, 2012 at 3:26 pm
My employer at the staffing agency I work at has an internet use policy as well. You are allowed limited personal use during lunch breaks and periodically throughout the day, but if there is misuse of this privledge, you are not able to utilize the internet for personal use/you may be monitored. I believe there to be fine line between quickly browsing and full-on online shopping or whatever it may be.