net surveillance is a big business because cyberslacking is a big problem for industry. Its estimated that there is something like a billion dollars in lost productivity in North America. As a small business owner and employer of a small group of staff I would certainly be pissed off if an employee was surfing the net instead of working. or for that matter slacking off or stealing supplies etc. So far weve been lucky as I dont get anal about it. I dont have a punch clock and generally people get their job done. We have a fairly easygoing work environment. On the other hand people get used to expecting more money each year even though they are not necessarily more productive. And they dont always realize that the money comes in from the work they produce, so when its busy I expect them to work a little harder as I dont send them home when its quiet.

On the issue of employee surveillance, I worked at a school for autistic kids for several years and our class rooms had one way mirrors so we could be observed. Nobody was crazy about that idea but they had a legitimate right to do it. Both for observation purposes and to keep an eye on the staff.

Some companies do not allow staff to use email for private purposes and I can see why when many of my friends send jokes or video files of (usually something stupid) and it eats a lot of time and bandwidth.

Jim your employer, despite what you may think of him/her hasnt cut your hours and sent you home even though there is less work to do so How would you feel if you were in their place and found out employees were spending x hours surfing the net instead of working?