Modern Vespa

Can you believe I can no longer get on Modern Vespa at work?!?!? What am I going to do???

Work?

Get another job, take less pay but tell them you need a lot of computer time to offset the diff in money.

Seriously. That should be a crime.

Oh well. I'd do it at work but the people on the bus might get upset with me trying to drive and type on a laptop at the same time.

Quit your job and sue for lack of emotional support.

SDG

You are going to go through withdrawals. Surround yourself with friends and you will get through this.

The best way to kick a habit is too replace it with a better habit.

Everytime you get the urge to visit MD, have a drink instead.

I forbid and eventually locked my managers out of internet access when I read the reports and reviewed the work time spent on non work related projects, It's stealing, company time unless the employer specifically allows time for non company use.

diving for bunker....

If you are at the point where you are wondering what to do because you can't get ModernVespa at work, it is probably a good thing that you can't get it.

Brendan

Cheat! R

Yup - first it's stealing company time. Then company pens and paper. Then those same employees will start taking out sub-prime loans. Then they will spend more time on MV than paying their mortgages. Before you know it, we will be in a recession.

Sure glad you were able to head that off, louis. I'm not ready for a recession.....

Al

Always such a pleasure, Louis. Man I am glad I don't work for you!

I garnered the same comment the last time this subject came up. There's a good chance I would share the same relief if you are the average worker wasting paid time on the internet. I still find it sad that employees with computers can justify spending hours of paid work time cruising forums. I had work for my staff to complete. Working is how we generated income. Less production = less income. What's difficult to understand about that? Got a slow business where the owner trusts and employee exercises appropriate discretion....great have fun....I suspect that's not the norm.

Actually, I have worked for my company for 21 years with a great track record of success. My point is treating people like children is no way to manage adults. It's just lazy management. My company has always had an open internet policy. We have our tasks set out for us, deadlines to achieve them and are held accountable. We are also expected as a part of work reviews to show that we have gone above and beyond what is asked if we expect top salary adjustment. Stopping by MV a couple of times a day or checking out the news or, heaven forbid using the internet for research actually improves my productivity. If I weren't being a productive employee, I would be reprimanded and eventually terminated. That, to me, is effective management. Just sayin'

download an additional in Internet browser (Netscape or Mozilla) so that your firewall won't be utilized.
Works for me.

I can't argue a single point, and I'm glad it works for you. Unfortunately it's not as easy to simply put it on the back of management style. Eventuelly we end up with employees who misuse the resource. Witch is precisely why, youtube and many other sites are now locked. More than once I referred to my job as the vasectomy that didn't work. I suppervised plenty of kids over 40! I'm happy you have the freedom and are responsible. However you would only have to have a cursery look around here to find quite a few high count posters who are doing so from their work place. Those types are operating as children and it is stealing.

Employee Computer & Internet Abuse Statistics
30 to 40% of Internet use in the workplace is not related to business.

64% of employees say they use the Internet for personal interest during
working hours
70% of all Internet porn traffic occurs during the nine-to-five work day.
37% of workers say they surf the Web constantly at work.
77.7% of major U.S. companies keep tabs on employees by checking their e-mail, Internet, phone calls, computer files, or by videotaping them at work.
63% of companies monitor workers' Internet connections and 47% store and review employee e-mail.
27% of companies say that they've fired employees for misuse of office e-mail or Internet connections, and 65% report some disciplinary measure for those offenses.
According to a survey by International Data Corp (IDC), 30 to 40% of internet access is spent on non work related browsing, and a staggering 60% of all online purchases are made during working hours.
90 percent of employees feel the Internet can be addictive, and 41 percent admit to personal surfing at work for more than three hours per week.
Some estimates reveal that computer crime may cost as much as $50 billion per year.
Around 80% of computer crime is committed by "insiders". They manage to steal $100 million by some estimates; $1 billion by others.
The average fraud inflicts a loss of about $110,000 per corporate/organization victim, and $15,000 to each individual victim.
60% of Security Breaches occur within the Company - behind the Firewall
25% of corporate Internet traffic is considered to be "unrelated to
work".
30-40% of lost productivity is accounted for by cyber-slacking.
Most studies show 70% of companies have had sex sites accessed using
their network.
32.6% of workers surf the net with no specific objective; men are twice
as likely as women.
When asked "should employers monitor, limit, block or control your
Internet access while at work?" over 60 % of employees said "yes".
On average, workers spend 21 hours per week online at the office, as oppose to only 9.5 hours at home
27% of Fortune 500 organisations have defended themselves against claims of sexual harassment stemming from inappropriate email.
Traditionally, employers have been responsible and liable for the actions of their employees in the workplace. However, if an organisation can demonstrate a "duty of care" to reduce unacceptable employee activity, then it could minimize it's potential for liability.
Chevron faces a $2 million lawsuit as a result of an employee's email that allegedly included sexist content.
A company with 1,000 Internet users could lose upwards of $35 million in productivity annually from just an hour of daily Web surfing by employees
90% of respondents (primarily large corporations and government agencies) detected computer security breaches within the previous 12 months, 80% acknowledged financial losses due to computer breaches, 44% were willing and/or able to quantify their losses, at more than $455 million.
The most serious financial losses occurred through theft of proprietary information respondents reported more than $170 million) and financial fraud (respondents reported approximately $116 million).
Estimated that the greatest threat to intellectual property is trusted insiders; 70% of security breaches come from inside.

All businesses have slow periods and all employees need a mental break from work a few times a day. Nobody and mean nobody can concentrate on work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.

If their work gets done, quotas are met, deadlines are met and staff are happy ... what's the harm? I wouldn't dream of cutting my staff off from the internet. Of course, my business is internet based so I have a vested interest in people being allowed "internet breaks!"

If I ever worked for somebody else again (God forbid) and they banned me from using the internet, I would get a small lap top with wifi and get my fix any which way I could!

Your latest avatar is a big improvement, LouisQ!

I think that MV addicts like myself need strong measures to keep us productive

My employer doesn't care, but my husband sure does!

And, with that, I'd better sign off

Gee I am soo glad I am self employed! R

People will always find a way to get a mental break from work. Do you think people worked incessently for 8 hours prior to the internet? Remember water coolers? Coffee breaks? IF people are not getting their jobs done, then that is one thing, but to obsess over people stealing time if thier work is done, seems like an even bigger waste of time.

Shhh!!!!!!!!
Your boss is listening....
I don't trust 'em at all...

Unfortunately in large companies Human Resource, diversity and harassment issues also come in to play. Yup it sucks but there's always some asshole downloading an inappropriate mpg or photo, political diatribe, or religiosity and some other employee gets exposed to it and is uncomfortable or insulted. Those companies run their web access in some ways similar to how this forum is moderated!

I can surf the internet on my phone.

not my company. and we have over 50k employees.

Yep, invest in a SmartPhone that incorporates a full blown browser (iPhone, Sidekick, Blackberry etc.), then spend an awful lot of time locked in the bathroom stall.

That'll teach those evil bosses!

Where I work it's ok to read a book when it's slow but not surf the net.
I can close a window and get back to work faster than putting in a book mark and putting down the book. So where is the cost savings?

Surfing porn in an open office plan is just stupid though.

A company of 50K with no issues? Sorry, but I don't buy that one.....

I never understood that, I love porn, but not at work.
Why would I want to get hot and bothered at work with porn, just doesnt make sense to me.

Id rather look at it at home and steal a quicky with the wife after the kids asleep.


Unless you work in the porn industry. I wonder how they handle or if they even have sexual harassment claims,hmm.

I didn't say there weren't issues. I should have been more clear, just no draconian monitoring. I will see your and raise you a and a and a . I am bored now. I am going back to talking about scooters.

Yes, right. I should just waste my time smoking and getting coffee or standing by the water cooler instead. People will always need a momentary distraction at work. It actually makes you more productive in the end. It's just that now we can track how much time is spent on these distractions so companies can attach a dollar value. The internet has not created lazy workers, it just allows managers to see how lazy they are. hmmm... getting low on coffee here...

One question for you Louis...........

Are you typing all this from work?

SDG

That you know of... That's how it's done....

Actually, given my field of work, trust me, I would know.

Before the Internet was at everyone's desk, but after smoking was banned inside at my workplace, we'd all meet out on the enclosed fire-escape for a ciggie break (I was going to write fag break, but that might have been misconstrued). The chat and banter got more constructive work done in terms of planning and collaboration than could ever have been done at the workbench.

The problem with a work-break that doesn't mean interaction with colleagues (getting a quick fix of MV say) is that it doesn't benefit the company or the building of 'team spirit' with those around you.

Far better to have a 'coffee corner', where workers can hang about together whenever they feel the need for a break.

Just a Curmudgeon's POV...

Many years ago at one of the first of many jobs I have had in
my long working life, I worked with another young fellow and he said something I never have forgotten...

He said... "I work to live, I don't live to work!"

I also heard or read this somewhere recently
"Nobody on their death bed, has been heard to say they wished
they had spent more time at the office!"

Have a funtastico day...

Actually no...you?

I heard.......didn't see the study, but heard about a study where they found it actually makes your employees work more efficiently when you let them waste that little bit of time rather than ban internet use.

I heard about it. I really don't know how true it is though.

Ben

There are studies that show employers benefit when they let their employees do their holiday shopping on-line during established breaks, rather than making them run out in their cars...

But allowing them to feed an MV (or eBay) addiction during work hours is quite a different thing

Use a proxy server...