Nearly One-Third of Workers Holiday Shop Online at Work; Half of Employers Monitor Internet and E-mail Use of Employees

According to a new survey by CareerBuilder, twenty-nine percent of workers say they have holiday shopped online at work, on par with previous years. Of those planning to shop online this year, 27 percent will spend one hour or more. More than one-in-ten (13 percent) said they will spend two hours or more. Workers should be mindful of their companies’ electronic communications policies, though, as nearly half (47 percent) of companies said that they monitor Internet and e-mail use of employees. This year’s survey included more than 2,400 employers and more than 3,100 workers.

More than one-in-10 workers (13 percent) said they spend one hour or more using the Internet each day for non-work related activities or research while at work. Workers are advised to limit their Internet searches to those related to work or to use their lunch hour or break time for these activities:

-- 21 percent of employers have fired someone for using the Internet for non-work related activities.

-- 5 percent of employers have fired someone for holiday shopping online at work.

-- Half of employers (50 percent) block employees from accessing certain web sites while at work.

Workers are also cautioned about email content as nearly six-in-10 (59 percent) said they typically send non-work related emails each day. Sixteen percent report they send six or more personal e-mails during a typical workday.

-- 27 percent of employers monitor emails.

-- 9 percent of employers have fired someone for non-work related emails.

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