What Do You Do When the Boss Isn't Looking?

"When the cat's away, the mice will play," is a term most of you can relate to. As employees, when your manager is gone – be it on vacation or just away from her desk – you're like a teenager whose parents are out of town.

You sneak out early or come in late. You chitchat with co-workers more frequently, usually about nonwork-related things. You make personal phone calls, take extra-long lunches – heck, maybe you'll even enjoy a cocktail with your meal.

Perhaps the most frequent misbehaviors that occur when your boss isn't looking happen on the Internet. Whether you're surfing the Net, checking your personal e-mail, paying bills, shopping or updating your personal blog – it's all happening under your boss's unsuspecting nose.

Or is it?

Fifty percent of all employers report they monitor employees' Internet usage, according to a recent CareerBuilder.com survey. Eighteen percent of employers have fired an employee for using the Internet for nonwork-related activities.

Another survey by the American Management Association and The ePolicy Institute shows more than one-fourth of employers have fired workers for misusing e-mail and nearly one-third have fired employees for misusing the Internet in general.

When the boss is gone, the world of technology is a worker's oyster. Here are the most common things we do when our bosses aren't looking.

You "research"

Sixty-one percent of workers use the Internet for nonwork-related research and activities while they're at work, according to CareerBuilder.com. On average, 20 percent of these workers spend more than an hour of their workday on nonwork-related online activities and 9 percent spend more than two hours.

With those stats, it's no wonder employers are concerned with employees searching inappropriate Web sites from work computers. Sixty-six percent of companies monitor employees' Internet connections, while 65 percent use software to block connections to inappropriate sites, according to the management association. Employers who block content are concerned workers will visit sexual or pornographic sites (96 percent); games sites (61 percent); social networking sites (50 percent); entertainment sites (40 percent); shopping sites (27 percent) and sports sites (21 percent).

Of the 30 percent of bosses who've fired employees for Internet misuse, 84 percent did so because the employee was downloading, viewing or uploading inappropriate or offensive content; 48 percent because of a violation of company policy; and 34 percent due to excessive personal use.

You e-mail

Many workers use e-mail as their only form of communication – not only with co-workers but also with friends and family. Sixty percent of workers say they send non-work related e-mails at work, with 20 percent saying they send six or more e-mails per day, according to CareerBuilder.com. Twenty-two percent of those workers spend more than 30 minutes during the workday doing so.

The 28 percent of employers who have fired workers for e-mail misuse did so for the following reasons: violation of company policy (64 percent); inappropriate or offensive language (62 percent); excessive personal use (26 percent); and breach of confidentiality rules (22 percent), according to the management association.

You instant message

Everyone engages in a little chitchat now and then, but workers are using methods other than their mouths to do so. Twenty-one percent of workers say they send instant messages while at work and 45 percent of those people say IMing makes them more productive, according to CareerBuilder.com.

You socially network

Instead of opening your Outlook first thing in the morning, do you update your Facebook status? You aren't alone – 37 percent of employees surveyed by CareerBuilder.com have a social networking profile and one-third of them spend time on their social networking page during the workday. Nine percent spend 30 minutes or more doing so.

Fifty percent of employers surveyed by the management association block social networking sites.

You talk on the phone

Are you calling Mom every morning from the office to check in? Start using your cell phone instead – 45 percent of employers monitor the time you spend on the phone and the numbers you're calling, while an additional 16 percent record phone conversations, according to the management association. Six percent of employers have fired employees for misuse or private use of their office phone.

You blog

The "blogosphere" is taking over the Internet and becoming a "must have" space for employers and employees alike. Twelve percent of workers have a personal blog and 20 percent of them update it at work, according to CareerBuilder.com. Of those people, 6percent spend 30 minutes or more blogging.

By Rachel Zupek writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com. She researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues.

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