Pornography on Company Laptop

National Statistics indicate that 70% of all porn is downloaded between 9am and 5pm, 20% of all men report they have downloaded porn at work and 25% of daily search engine requests are for porn.  The situation is overwhelming, real, and not going anywhere.

An employer may be justified in terminating an employee who has downloaded porn on their work laptop or desktop.  Or the employer could save the company money by retaining a valuable employee as they provide assistance in inviting the employee to discontinue the behavior.

Four recommendations that I have used include: eliminating the secret, having a support person, the installation of monitoring software, and a specialized assessment.

• Eliminate the secret – have a supervisor, HR representative, and Dept. head meet with the employee.
• Offer a support person – designate another employee who is not a direct supervisor to meet with the employee at least ever-other week to discuss accountability.
• Install monitoring software – there are a lot of free or inexpensive programs that can be easily installed to track all internet activity.
• Specialized assessment – have the employee seek an evaluation by a professional in the area of sexuality, at their own expense , so that they can get the necessary help they may need.

Internet Sexual Addiction/Compulsivity is a growing problem.  You can retain your employee, save the company money, and invite the employee to get help without the need for termination.

To learn more about the specifics of this process please e-mail me at jeff@next-element.com

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