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Internet
Use Is Growing, Employers Have Few Policies
Posted April 1, 1997Employers' use of the Internet has burgeoned in recent years, according to a survey conducted by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (BNA) in conjunction with the Society for Human Resource Management. At the time of the survey (March through May 1996), half of the 494 responding organizations had some form of access to the Internet, and another 17 percent planned to gain access in the near future. Despite the growth in organizational use of the Internet, few establishments have developed formal policies that govern workers' Internet activities.
The BNA survey also finds that:
BNA's survey of employers' Internet access and policies is based on responses from 494 human resource and employee relations executives representing a cross-section of U.S. employers, both public and private.
- Internet access typically is confined to a small proportion of the work force. Among responding organizations on the Internet, 41 percent permit only a "few" workers to use electronic mail on the Internet, and more than half (54 percent) give just a few employees access to other Internet applications (e.g., the World Wide Web). Employers rarely allow "all" of their workers to use Internet E-mail (10 percent) or other Internet applications (3 percent).
- Many organizations use the Internet for promotional purposes or to communicate with colleagues. Six out of 10 establishments with Internet capabilities allow workers to communicate with colleagues or business associates through the Internet. Nearly half of the responding employers with access to the Internet (47 percent) use it for advertising, marketing, or other promotional functions.
- Most employers on the Internet use their connections to acquire work-related information or technology (74 percent). Software, government data and documents, and human resources information are among materials most frequently sought by employers on the Internet.
- Formal, written Internet policies are rare among the surveyed establishments. Just 25 responding companies on the Internet (10 percent) have developed written policies that govern employees' Internet activities. However, more than two out of five firms with Internet access but no written policy (44 percent) reported plans to establish an Internet policy in the near future. Moreover, almost three out of four establishments that expected to gain access to the Internet within 12 months (73 percent) indicated plans to develop a written Internet policy during that period.
- Most of the surveyed employers' Internet policies (80 percent) address the use of Internet resources for personal business or research, and nearly as many (76 percent) cover the transmission and receipt of personal electronic mail. Seventeen of the 25 Internet policies (68 percent) address privacy issues related to employees' Internet activities, and the same proportion cover illegal or inappropriate material on the Internet.
- Internet access is specifically restricted to certain individuals, employee groups, or departments at more than three out of five establishments on the Internet (63 percent). Many of these organizations require employees to demonstrate a legitimate business need before they are granted Internet access.
- About half of the surveyed employers with Internet access (49 percent) have established a site on the Internet that is accessible to individuals outside the company. Customized home pages or web sites appear somewhat more common among large companies (60 percent) than in firms with fewer than 1,000 employees (42 percent). Marketing information, job postings and organizational profiles are the materials most likely to be found on employers' Internet sites.
- Only a handful of the responding organizations have had Internet connections for more than a few years. The vast majority of responding employers on the Internet first gained access in 1994 (11 percent), 1995 (54 percent), or the first five months of 1996 (20 percent).
- Educational institutions are most likely to have access to the Internet; more than nine out of 10 responding colleges, universities and other schools (92 percent) have established connections to the Internet. Conversely, Internet connections are fairly rare in some business sectors. Only 17 percent of surveyed utilities and 25 percent of responding banks reported any connections to the Internet.
For more information on the survey, contact Mike Reidy at (202) 452-4389.
Copyright © 1997 The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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