Employees at CT state Department of Veterans Affairs dismissed for using eBay

[mandy]

Update on that NYC ruling, NYC doesn't care what the judge thinks and decided to go ahead and fire the web surfing worker.

Despite a judge's recommendation that he only receive a reprimand, a city worker accused of disregarding warnings to stay off the Internet at work has been fired...

"The penalty of termination is appropriate and not shocking to one's sense of fairness," [Schools Chancellor] Klein said Friday....

full article: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercuryne...517508.htm

[mandy]

A related article that explains the dangers presented by workplace web surfing:

The seemingly casual act of Web surfing was thrust into the spotlight last month when an administrative law judge in New York City argued that a city employee had been unfairly penalized for browsing travel and entertainment sites on company time.

The judge likened Web surfing to reading the newspaper or taking a personal phone call, an acceptable downtime activity so long as it does not affect job performance.

However, a number of readers said the judge was missing a vital point: the individual worker's responsibility to the security of the network and even to the enterprise itself through his or her behavior when computing...

full article: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1961088,00.asp

[mandy]

A related article:

From catching up on the latest weird videos to planning a wedding, millions of people use the Internet every day. But much of that surfing is done from a cubicle, leading to hours of questionable productivity and strained resources.

In response, workplace Internet policies are getting stricter.

Companies are starting to ban Web access, block instant messaging services to squash discreet conversations among chatty co-workers and prohibit employees from watching sporting events on their computers...

full article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-0605200113may20,1,1009243.story?page=1&coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true