May be in a bit of trouble at work

[Flutra]

At work we are getting new software which means management can see what we have been doing on the internet. I am really fed up with work, my morale is really down with my massive workload and I spend a fair bit of time on the internet. Never looking at anything bad, usually browsing personal emails or fantasising about holidays.

Now, since I've heard we are getting this software, I am obviously not going on the internet for purposes other than work, bit with the software, can they look at what staff have been up to in the recent past?

They probably suspect that some members of staff are daydreaming their paid hours away on holiday planning and reading their personal emails whilst complaining that the workload is too high.

If the workload is genuinely too high, monitoring computer usage will confirm that - but at present, if you were to claim you can't possibly cope with the workload and they're at fault for not acting on it, all they'd have to do is pull up your browsing history and possibly instigate disciplinary or capability procedures.

It's crap, there are jobs I've had where the last thing I want to do is the work I'm being badly paid for, but if it comes down to getting myself fired/a shit reference or making sure there isn't anything they could pin on me, I'd take the latter path from now on.

Which doesn't mean searching job adverts in my lunchbreak, either.

I too work bloody hard fairenuff, and habe often come in work on a weeekend unpaid to sort things that can't wait til Monday. Still, I wish I was as perfect at you.

If only we could all be as great as fairenuff

It would be a start if just the OP’s manager could be as great as Fairenuff, then perhaps s/he could manage the workload a little better in the first place.

It's not just me, everyone in my department works all day. It's not anything special to spend your work hours working. But I wouldn't do unpaid work OP.

We have an internet policy for personal use, I'm allowed to surf on lunch break.

I do, however, use the internet for work purposes too, so I'm online a lot of the time, all above board.

I think the fairest thing is to have a clear policy on what is/is not allowed.

I once worked in a place where a couple of managers moaned about everyone's internet use.

Funny thing is I work in IT and it was the managers who were looking at dodgy sites.

The most dodgy site anyone else looked at was BBC news, Sky news or a broadsheet newspaper site as we all knew we were being tracked.

I only know who was looking at the dodgy stuff because I spoke to the network guy who was given the job of blocking sites.