email and hostile work environment
marc
3,126 Posts
Sorry for the length.
In just a few minutes I will be meeting with our Exec Dir, our top two Program Directors, and our IT manager.
It seems that during a recent email audit, which was requested by a supervisor, spanning a two month period, discovered a large volume of the typical types of jokes that you often find in your email boxes. These were your standard jokes offending blondes, cubans, lesbians, men, women, politicians, etc. Very few protected classes were left out.
We have a detailed policy about the appropriate use of technology, including email, internet, phones, PDA's, etc. that clearly spells out our approach to this. Over the past couple of years, several staff have been written up and one person was even fired citing inappropriate use of the internet along with some other performance issues. It has been over a year since any incident of this nature has been documented.
We do not strictly prohibit personal use of the email or the internet, just prohibit it from interfering with work and confine it to breaks, lunch hours and other personal time.
The IT manager says the receipt and sending of this type of offensive material is found at all levels of the organization, including top management personnel.
I, of course, chime in with the exposure we have in the event of litigation with all of this being present not only on personal computers, but in all of the back-up files that we maintain for years and years. That more than 50% of all lawsuits in the courts are employment related and that many harassment and hostile work environment claims are largely based on electronic evidence.
The Exec Dir will want us to focus on performance issues with respect to these write-ups and not delve into significant discipline for the offenders.
What is your take on this?
In just a few minutes I will be meeting with our Exec Dir, our top two Program Directors, and our IT manager.
It seems that during a recent email audit, which was requested by a supervisor, spanning a two month period, discovered a large volume of the typical types of jokes that you often find in your email boxes. These were your standard jokes offending blondes, cubans, lesbians, men, women, politicians, etc. Very few protected classes were left out.
We have a detailed policy about the appropriate use of technology, including email, internet, phones, PDA's, etc. that clearly spells out our approach to this. Over the past couple of years, several staff have been written up and one person was even fired citing inappropriate use of the internet along with some other performance issues. It has been over a year since any incident of this nature has been documented.
We do not strictly prohibit personal use of the email or the internet, just prohibit it from interfering with work and confine it to breaks, lunch hours and other personal time.
The IT manager says the receipt and sending of this type of offensive material is found at all levels of the organization, including top management personnel.
I, of course, chime in with the exposure we have in the event of litigation with all of this being present not only on personal computers, but in all of the back-up files that we maintain for years and years. That more than 50% of all lawsuits in the courts are employment related and that many harassment and hostile work environment claims are largely based on electronic evidence.
The Exec Dir will want us to focus on performance issues with respect to these write-ups and not delve into significant discipline for the offenders.
What is your take on this?
Comments
Sort of a moratorium for the past indiscretions, but I did not really expect to get to discipline the current offenders. My other big concern is that we not bury our heads in the sand and think that the 'going underground' will not occur. So we are going to revisit our policy about how we random audit and the steps we will take when we get the offending results.
All in all, it went well even though I think some verbal warnings would have been appropriate. The Exec Dir is rightly concerned with poor morale that could be grown out of too heavy a hand being applied. You know, person x being disciplinedand person y skating.