Is it OK for an employer to block employees from accessing certain websites from the office?
There are quite a few employers out there which use technology to block employees from accessing certain websites, such as YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook, and also web mail sites like Yahoo! Mail and Google’s Gmail. The intent is to minimize exposure of company systems to computer viruses, to minimize both willful and unintentional leakage of intellectual property, to minimize employee distraction from work, and to minimize the burden on the company’s network connectivity with regard to data transfer of video and music content. On the other hand, such practices instill a corporate culture of distrust towards employees, blocks access to sites where networking opportunities, sales leads, market research, and other legitimate resources are available, and suggest there is a lack of foresight or an undercurrent of fear, in either senior management, HR, and/or IT, in adopting new Internet technology. Personally, I think it’s not OK for access to be blocked. Employees should be trusted with h
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