Legal Questions and Answers by
Jonathan Stones of John Barkers
Question :-
I am one of the partners of a small local company. We recently discovered that one of our employees has been spending hours and hours on the Internet. I was so angry I wanted to fire the man on the spot.
However, I was persuaded by my partners that, as we haven't said anything to our staff on this issue, we should on this occasion give him a warning.
Could we have fired him on the grounds of misconduct?
Answer :-
From the details you have given I think that your partners' approach was correct. You cannot dismiss people if they are not aware of the rules. In your case it would seem that there were no rules.
An employment tribunal might well take the view that such a dismissal was unfair.
If you wish to restrict use of the Internet on your company computers systems you first have to draw up a clear policy and you then have to communicate the policy to your staff. That could be done by way of the office manual, contracts of employment or letters to your employees.
It is increasingly common for every desk to have a PC, which may well mean that there is going to be access to the Internet. Some people may be tempted to abuse this access.
It is possible to have your IT people bar certain types or categories of websites and it is possible for them to monitor which staff are spending what time on the Internet - and what sites they are visiting.
If you are to monitor Internet usage, then staff should also be made aware that this is going to be happening in the firm.
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