Firing Problem Employee

[Ted1966]

I had begun to worry about the amount of time my employees were spending on their computers as well as the types of activities they are using them for. My main concern was about the time they were spending on personal activity, email, shopping or just surfing.

Long story short; I saw a review in PC Magazine for a product called Spector 360. I purchased it and was able to see all the activity that took place on our network. I was a little alarmed at the amount of time some of our employees were spending doing nothing, but that was something that can be corrected, now that they know I am watching I don’t think there will be a problem in the future.

My main concern is with one employee that was downloading not only quite a bit of copyrighted material (music, pirated software) but some really objectionable stuff as well. I feel I have no choice but to terminate him both for the sheer outrageousness of his behavior as well as my potential liability.

My question is does anyone know the legality of firing him? I am located in Florida (a right to work state). He was on a company computer in our building. Also I have absolute proof what he was doing, the software recorded screenshots, keystrokes, file names and locations, and you name it. He doesn’t have a leg to stand on as far as claiming innocence goes.

Are there any other legal ramifications I should be thinking of here?

[JPnyc]

I'm not a lawyer, but I can't imagine you could get into any kind of trouble for firing an employee who has used your services and premises to commit illegalities. As a matter of fact I have a friend who has just taken the Florida State Bar exam, so I can ask him and see what he says. This isn't really his area however. He's more about real estate law.

[JPnyc]

OK, my lawyer friend says no, go ahead and fire him.

[roban]

He may be able to collect unemployment insurance unless you fire him 'for cause'.

[Ted1966]

Well I've got screen shots and all kinds of other data that the Spector 360 software gathered. I think I have plenty of cause. And frankly I don't think he would be too comfortable having everyone at an unemployment hearing look at what he had been doing.

[BasicECommerce]

I say, "can him and be done with it." You have more important things to deal with.

-BEC

[JEccles]

After you get rid oh him, you should immediately set about instituting a code of conduct where computer use is concerned. Our company absolutely forbids downloading anything unless a manager has approved it (of course this was after the owner destroyed his laptop with a virus he downloaded). Also see about blocking objectionable sites from your network.

[JPnyc]

Actually, the very same lawyer I queried about this has just had to deal with the same problem in his office, employees surfing to dodgy sites and picking up viruses, so he had to send a companywide e-mail and lay down the law.

[marc77]

now that they know I am watching I don’t think there will be a problem in the future.

On the one hand, it's clear that you need some control over your network, on the other hand, this is not something that builds trust and may burden the employer-employee relationship.

I think it's important that you have people you can rely on, especially when running a small business with just a few staff members.

Well, instead of controlling people's computers, have you thought about installing a firewall and/or content filter that simply limits Internet access ? Also considering privacy concerns, I would prefer such a way.

Or, the most inexpensive solution: Disallow private usage of the Internet during working hours. Of course, this needs to be controlled as well, but you would see on general traffic logs if this rule is taken. Then when there is a suspicion, the "big brother" software could be used to check out who is abusing the network.

A general question from my side: Is it allowed in the USA to read the contents of sent mails, even they are private ?

In Germany (guess that is true for most European countries as well), employers are allowed (and in some cases must do so for legal reasons) to track and archive business related e-mails, but they are disallowed to read the contents of private mails sent between employees within the company's network or outside.

[JPnyc]

Let's put it this way, it's not officially sanctioned but it often happens. Administrators certainly have the permissions necessary to read any e-mail you receive or send. Some of them do, some of them don't. I never use my work e-mail for anything but work, or extremely rarely.

[marksmatter]

If you are referring to emails using the company domain, they are not private. They are completely owned by the company, and there should be no expectation of privacy either.

[marc77]

If you are referring to emails using the company domain, they are not private. They are completely owned by the company, and there should be no expectation of privacy either.

It depends upon the country your company is located whether the employer has the general right to read such mails or not.

Usually this is a regulation part of the employment contract, but there is also a country-wide data privacy act which has priority against individual agreements, of course.