How do I approach adult sites? 3

[mike071581]

Hello,

I typed out my ethcial question but decided it was to long. So here's the short version:

How do I deal with an employee that's looking at adult sites when that employee is the owner of my company?

If you want the full story please let me know.

Thanks,

"Mike

 

[CajunCenturion]

Whereas I can understand that such action offends our sensibilities, that in and of itself, doesn't constitute un-ethical behavior.

Let's also clarify a couple of things.
This person is not an employee of your company, this person is the owner of his/her company. You are the employee.

So, what violation is taking place that requires you to act in an official capacity?

--------------
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To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
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[BJCooperIT]

I suppose it depends on your duties. See thread655-1262884.

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[mrdenny]

It also depends on if there is a written policy stating that you can't surf p0rn. If there isn't I wouldn't say or do anything about it as technically s/he hasn't done anything wrong.

If there is a policy about it, I short private "BTW, we do monitor ALL employees web browsing habbits per the policy that you put into practice." might be in order.

If they give you the I'm the boss and it's my company then you are done with the confersation as they are correct. It's his/her company and s/he can do what ever they want as it's there money being spent.

Denny
MCSA (2003) / MCDBA (SQL 2000) / MCTS (SQL 2005) / MCITP Database Administrator (SQL 2005)

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[sysadmin42]

This comes from the heart, as I am an employer myself...

You should definitely try to put in an Internet Usage Policy as soon as possible. I highly recommend disallowing your employees to browse sites that fit a certain criteria- this criteria may include, Adult, Hate, Violent, Discriminatory, etc...

Not having this in place allows your employees to determine their own policies. Better for the boss to do that.

In addition, an employee's behavior significantly affects other employees' behavior (Read "Fish"), whether that be positive or negative. The question is, would you really want that type of risk of negativity in your workplace? Negativity directly affects the bottom line, filtering down to salaries and the success of the company. Even big companies have been minimized as a result of negative attitudes!

I would approach the boss with these points, showing that the problem can run much deeper than simple internet browsing- it could ruin his/her company. I'm sure they don't want that. If you can't get anywhere with that, it depends on the direct circumstances, but I wager that sexual harrassment might apply as well.

"Computer illiterate is a dirty word."

 

[dgillz]

I actually dealt with this exact situation about a year ago. We blocked the sites. Of course there are always new ones, but as soon as we were aware of it, we blocked those too. After a couple of months, the owner quit surfing for crap like that.

Don't confront, Don't ask for permission. Don't explain your actions beforehand. Just block the sites.

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[Grenage]

Don't confront, Don't ask for permission. Don't explain your actions beforehand. Just block the sites

This person in particular is the owner of the company, he can do what he likes, surely. I don't see why it would be your/his place to dictate what he chooses to look at using the resources of his own firm.

I think some perspective is needed there.


Carlsberg don't run I.T departments, but if they did they'd probably be more fun.

 

[Welshbird]

I'm not sure that is the case you know.

Surely if he as the company is seen to be doing things that may not be ok in other's eyes, does that not tar the rest of the staff with the same brush?

I don't envy you in having to deal with it though. Which I appreciate is not much help!

I'll ponder some more and post back if I come up with something.


Fee

The question should be [red]Is it worth trying to do?[/red] not [blue] Can it be done?[/blue]

 

[LadySlinger]

This is from someone in a similar situation. The difference is that the offenders are the owners sons. In addition to the internet usage, I avoid their department's bathroom as Penthouse, Playboy and other naked magazines are right next to the toilet and on the floor.

Really, there isn't anything. We do have a policy in place, but all I'm told by the father is "Not to let them surf too much". Meaning I just monitor them and if they're frequenting web sites, I will temporarily block them from it.

That is an unfortunate situation. I wish I could tell you to block his access, however that would put your job on the line. He's worked hard for his company and apparently a little porn surfing is his reward.
Maybe wear a pair of rubber glovers the next time you touch his computer...maybe then he'll get the hint. (ps I'm joking)

 

[mike071581]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. As it turns out I've already tried some of them and their's more to the story then I let on.

First I consider everyone an employee, from the owner down to the maintenance dept which is why I refered to the owner as an employee.

Six months ago he had his PC infected with viruses and spyware which took me some time to fix. He told me what he did and I tried to play it off as 'it happens by clicking on deceptive links'.

I thought the issue was a one time thing he did and didn't want to escalate the issue for a number of reasons. First, being a recent graduate I'm relatively new in the IT field and have only one job behind me. That job was with an EXTREMELY unethical company (the Enron type) that abused me and when I left, I attempted to do the right thing but it backfired on me and made me wish I never said anything in the first place (so I tend to keep quite now). Second, he's the owner and he COULD fire me. Third, if I did get anyone involved they may be hesitant since being the owner, he could fire all of us. Fourth, our acceptable use policy is vague and wasn’t sure how I should bring up what I found. Is their a site that has generic use policies that I could look at? Lastly, it makes me extremely uncomfortable talking to anyone about this type of stuff, let alone the owner (and any other people that would need to be involved). So I let things be.

I've since instituted a primitive logging program that monitors internet activity and found he was still going to these sites. Last month I proactively instituted a proxy filtering program but it went haywire over the weekend and management flipped when they found I was blocking some sites (I still didn't tell them why I did it).

We don't have a good AUP but even if he did, he's the owner and can ignore it if he wants to.

Best I can tell he's not going to any illegal adult sites. He's not the most technically savy person and my fear is he'll get into something that can't be easily fixed. He comes in on Sundays to do this type of stuff so no one's around when he's doing it. It's not affecting anyone, except me as it is disturbing to view the sites he's going on. And I'm not going to the sites for fun, I went to his temp files to clean off his comp.

As much as it pains me to say this I think I have to let things be.

 

[Grenage]

You can always try to lock down the machine as much as possible. Recommend the use of an alternative browser, install spybot, schedule daily AV scans. etc.


Carlsberg don't run I.T departments, but if they did they'd probably be more fun.

 

[Bahnzai]

Depending on the size and culture of the company, it may be possible to stop the owner's internet surfing by finding yourself a 'champion' that can speak to the owner about what he's doing and the possible computer problems that can occur.

This champion would have to be someone both you and the owner trust and is also someone that is willing to protect you if the situation takes a turn for the worse.

For me, it was usually the owner's relative, friend, or business partner.

Outside of that, you will probably have to "let things be".

 

[MasterRacker]

How did you find out the owner was pornsurfing? If it wasn't through the normal course of your duties, you could get fired for bringing it up.

_____
Jeff
[small][purple]It's never too early to begin preparing for [/purple]International Talk Like a Pirate Day
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[mike071581]

MasterRacker,

See above

"Six months ago he had his PC infected with viruses and spyware which took me some time to fix. He told me what he did and I tried to play it off as 'it happens by clicking on deceptive links'."

 

[MasterRacker]

Sorry - that's what I get for multi-tasking to much.

As you yourself said, not much you can do. In a privately held company the owners can do what they want as long as it's not illegal in some way. The AUP should be there to cover the rest of of the staff, but in the case of the owner, about all you can do is try and make them aware of the dangers of a compromised machine - lost/stolen data, possible financial repercussions, etc.


_____
Jeff
[small][purple]It's never too early to begin preparing for [/purple]International Talk Like a Pirate Day
"The software I buy sucks, The software I write sucks. It's time to give up and have a beer..." - Me[/small]

 

[zarkon4]

Surfing for porn or pornographic materials in a business can be grounds for a sexual harrasment lawsuit. The main reason that businesses block this content is to protect themselves from costly lawsuits.
Anyone being offended by such behavior has grounds for such a lawsuit.
This alone is reason enough to block it.

 

[KornGeek]

I've got mixed emotions on this one. On one hand, he is the owner of the company, so he should be allowed to risk his financial future by inviting a sexual harassment suit like that. On the other hand, you and the other employees have some stake in this. If he gets sued and has to close the business, you're out of a job.

I'm leaning more towards you taking action by simply blocking the sites. You have good business reasons for doing this (avoiding law suits, protecting the computer systems, etc.). It would be difficult for him to fire you based on this. If he did, you could claim wrongful termination (or whatever the term is). You could also file a harassment claim if he fired you. After all, you stated that this material did offend you.

It's not affecting anyone, except me as it is disturbing to view the sites he's going on.

Then again, much of this depends on where you live/work. I'm not a lawyer, and it's not my butt on the line. You've got to do what you're comfortable doing.

 

[harebrain]

You have good business reasons for doing this (avoiding law suits, protecting the computer systems, etc.). It would be difficult for him to fire you based on this... Then again, much of this depends on where you live/work.

Emphasis on the part in bold: if you work in an "at will" state, you can be fired for any reason or no reason at all. So think twice before doing something because it suits you.

 

[Alcar]

I say, form/join a UNION and then approach him

Jokes aside I agree with most of the replies. It's merely up to you, knowing what you risk.
If you really cannot stand it, look for a new job and when you get an offer approach your boss witht he issue and let him know that you are not confortable with what he is doing and that you are aware of the sexual harrasment laws.
If he fires you, you have something you can fall on to (a new job), if not he might stop... and again if he doesn't do anything about it... I guess it's time to push the "easy" button.. this time it has written on it: "Laywer"



Daren J. Lahey
Programmer Analyst
FAQ183-874 contains Suggestions for Getting Quick and Appropriate Answers to your questions.

 

[KornGeek]

you work in an "at will" state, you can be fired for any reason or no reason at all.

Even in "at will" states, firing an employee can be more difficult than a whim. I know a person who was fired for cause in California (an "at will" state), but because the company did not correctly document her behaviors leading up the the termination, she was awarded payment of all her wages from the time of the termination through the completion of the lawsuit.

Now, the ethics of her filing the suit in the first place is a whole other discussion...
(For the record, although she is a friend who I love dearly, I feel that she was wrong in this case.)