Workplace E-mail and Internet Use: Employees and Employers Beware.

Abstract

36 Monthly Labor Review February 2003 The widespread use of the Internet and electronic mail (“e-mail”) has transformed the way business is conducted in the typical American workplace. Written communication to almost anyone in the world now can be completed nearly instantaneously; information about any subject encountered in a daily job task can be retrieved in seconds from the Internet through multiple search engines. These technological developments have benefited employers and employees alike—employers in accomplishing business goals and employees in performing their duties. Undoubtedly, the Internet and e-mail also have given employees a new means of escaping briefly from long days at the office. What sports enthusiast, for example, hasn’t taken a quick peek at ESPN.com on the Internet during working hours to see the latest sports news? Who hasn’t interrupted his or her work for a moment to send a quick note to a friend about the coming weekend’s social events? A recent extensive survey1 of employers and employees to gauge their opinions on Internet and e-mail use at the workplace revealed that both Workplace Internet and E-mail