Personal FB/Dis/Cell Phone use at work

[kwelch10377]

Odd man out here. We are REQUIRED to cruise FB, Twitter and other sites such as DIS at work. Some local police and fire departments have stopped e-mailing out information, and instead post it on Twitter. I am expected to post breaking news on FB, Twitter and if appropriate, any other site I frequent, in my case DIS.

There are some people in my company who are required to use it as well. We get customer feedback via social media sites and we make sure they are followed so that any customer issues that come up through them are handled. We also have an inter office instant messenger.

To the OP, I think that is a wise move to have your IT block it. I'm not sure about the employment laws where you live, but if you fired her because of it and there were also any other employees on it during work hours you might find a lawsuit on your hands since you fired her and not anyone else.

 

[rascalmom]

Is she a good enough employee/likable enough person that it is worth one more try at salvaging her by giving her one more chance and making it very clear to her by saying with the other boss (your husband) present, "Okay - Absolutely no Facebook or related sites at the office. Can you agree to that? This is your last chance."?

Hi Krista - long time no see!

To honestly answer the question, no, she is not very likeable and we are finding, not very honest. She had a medical procedure in December and has been telling dh that she has been going to daily physical therapy ever since. We just found out from the other staff that she has actually been using that time to go tanning, go to lunch with friends, etc. She is salaried & well-paid; that is causing some animosity with the other staff.

To the PP, we are an at-will state, so she would not have grounds for a lawsuit. And no one else is abusing the use of the office computer like she is, nor were they warned for improper use. Do they occasionally get online during down time, probably. I don't have a problem with that. I have a problem with her spending an hour or more out of a 7 1/2 hour workday doing non-work activities.

 

[sam_gordon]

My .02...

1) Gather your facts about what work she isn't getting done/pushing off to others.
2) Sit down with this employee and have a conversation about her lack of work results. Don't even bring up FB.
3) Let her know that if you don't see an improvement in 'x' time, AND a continued effort to do her job, you'll have to let her go.
4) Stick to your guns.

Bottom line, make this about her lack of doing the job, not what's keeping her from doing her job.

 

[klacey1]

We have no solid policy here, but we are also loosely managed. As long as projects get done, no one really cares how you manage your time during the day. Most co-workers take a long lunch and ALL check FB and other sites at some point during the day.

 

[Keli]

Most offices I've worked in don't have a firm policy regarding Internet usage as much as they care whether you are getting your work done or not. This office manager would be in trouble for not completing her duties more than her Internet usage.
BUT I would determine if this isn't actually a case of office politics at work here rather than abuse of Internet. I've worked in way too many offices to think these two woman that complained didn't talk to each other before they each went to you and compared notes afterwards. Could be legit or could be jealousy on a troublemakers part and she is stiring up co-workers in a quest to oust her boss. First thing they do is try to drive a wedge between their boss and her boss. Really look into this before making any decisions.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

We are blocked from facebook, UTUBE and some other sites. We can get into some messageboards like DIS but not all of them.

 

[Erin1700]

Is she a good enough employee/likable enough person that it is worth one more try at salvaging her by giving her one more chance and making it very clear to her by saying with the other boss (your husband) present, "Okay - Absolutely no Facebook or related sites at the office. Can you agree to that? This is your last chance."?

Hi Krista - long time no see!

To honestly answer the question, no, she is not very likeable and we are finding, not very honest. She had a medical procedure in December and has been telling dh that she has been going to daily physical therapy ever since. We just found out from the other staff that she has actually been using that time to go tanning, go to lunch with friends, etc. She is salaried & well-paid; that is causing some animosity with the other staff.

To the PP, we are an at-will state, so she would not have grounds for a lawsuit. And no one else is abusing the use of the office computer like she is, nor were they warned for improper use. Do they occasionally get online during down time, probably. I don't have a problem with that. I have a problem with her spending an hour or more out of a 7 1/2 hour workday doing non-work activities.

There seems to be MANY reasons to let her go...TODAY!!

 

[U2_rocks!]

We are blocked from facebook, UTUBE and some other sites. We can get into some messageboards like DIS but not all of them.

Same here. And it's not just for the time wasting aspect - some websites are real bandwidth hogs, and it affects the speed and efficiency of the network when employees are hogging so much bandwidth for non-work stuff.

But, if she couldn't get on FB etc., she would find another way to procrastinate. Your real issue is the fact that she is willing to shift her work onto others and not complete what she has to do. She clearly doesn't have a strong work ethic. It is possible to play on FB and other websites and also get your work done, but she clearly cannot do it - so deal with that aspect.