Companies have legal right to review workers' Internet use

By Eric Eyre
Staff writer
Charleston Gazette

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Most employees believe their boss doesn't have the right to regulate and view their e-mail and Internet use at work.

But businesses have the legal right -- and a duty -- to do so, according to lawyers from the Charleston firm of Spilman Thomas & Battle.

"It can cause so many workplace disruptions," said Eric Iskra, who spoke Tuesday at the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce's annual Human Resources Summit in Charleston. "You need to manage it aggressively, but you also have to be aware of the pitfalls."

Employers must first establish policies that address e-mail, Web browsing and the use of social networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, Iskra said.

"You want to make sure your employees know you're monitoring," he said. "You want to make sure your employees know you have the right to access their e-mails. You need to let them know you're doing that."
Businesses also should make clear what types of e-mails are permissible.

If a company allows employees to post party invitations, fundraising notices, birth announcements and bake sales, the firm may be hard-pressed to stop workers from posting information about a union organization event, said Richard Wallace, a lawyer with Spilman.

"There has to be a blanket prohibition," Wallace said. "You can prohibit any type of e-mail you want as long as you don't discriminate."

Workers' overuse of social networking sites also can lead to lost productivity, Iskra and Wallace said.
One company recently struggled to curb employees from using Facebook during work hours, Wallace said. The company ultimately decided to allow employees to access Facebook, but only during the three short periods of time each day normally set aside for smoke breaks. Most chose Facebook over cigarettes.
"It was a pretty creative way to reduce smoking," Wallace said.

About 300 small business owners, human resource managers, lawyers and accountants attended Tuesday's summit at the Charleston Marriot. The event continues today.

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Spilman Thomas & Battle is a full-service law firm with more than 100 attorneys. Founded in 1864, Spilman has offices in Charleston, Morgantown and Wheeling, West Virginia; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Winston-Salem, North Carolina and Roanoke, Virginia.

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