Internet Policy

An Internet Policy is absolutely necessary to the modern work setting. When a staff member is at work their seems to be to much of an opportunity for them to spend working time on the net either accessing undesirable sites or just not working and wasting time on sites like Facebook. An effective Internet policy lets employees know there obligations in regards to Internet and related technology usage. A lot of employees spend too much time on sites such Facebook. Also you do not want staff accessing from the workplace sites that are discriminatory, condone or encourage violence or pornographic sites.   None of this is good for the employee or the workplace.

An Internet policy needs to outline and mention known sites such as Facebook and Twitter. It needs to prohibit the accessing of these sites from the workplace. It should also outline acceptable Internet browsing usage and that it should be for business use only and not for personal usage. Also the employee should avoid accessing unknown sites because a large number of these can contain viruses, injection scripts and other harmful nasties. If an employee accesses a "bad " site it can cost you thousands of dollars and many hours of time to fix , and you might loose some of your work permanently. You also need to clearly state the punishment for accessing prohibited sites from work. This can include dismissal and cancellation of bonuses and well as counselling.

Internet policies should also clearly  prohibit the accessing of sites in the following categories.

1. Pornography

2. Sites promoting and showing violence

3. Sites promoting hatred

4. Sites degrading females

5. Sites promoting or showing racism.

What is necessary in today's modern office environment is for an official office Internet policy  to be created outlining what is acceptable and what is not. Also it is necessary to install antispyware and antivirus protection on all office computers. This will protect you and your business in the event that a virus or other unwanted programme tries to access your computer.

Aside from having internet policy, you also need to have other business and staff policies. These include;

1. Absence Policy that outlines acceptable work hours  and breaks etc

2. Workplace health and safety policies that outline the health and safety rules and expectations in the workplace

Aside from having an internet policy, it is likewise a good idea to read our guide on writing policies and procedures to help you get started.