A moral Dilemma

[KorpDeath]

This is a sticky situation. There's always the anon email..... not sure if you'd want to do that but....it'd probably be the most capable of staying "under the radar". Not too personal though.

You could always ask him to meet with you conceerning some type of company business and when the door is closed you could mention it to him.?? not too sure about that one either.

Sometimes, though, I'm afraid there is a price to pay for being too compassionate.....
Breaking your own rules is a bad precedent to set, my friend. Especially if you are in a position of authority.

This is a tough one, i don't envy your position.

[Kindred69]

Perhaps the way to handle this is not to confront the problem that has arisen between the procedure and the person directly. Firstly set up a meeting with the offender and explain how you’re going to deal with the situation. Perhaps sending out and email to all the bosses that are most likely to have to give out these verbal warning explaining that the procedure needs to be updated and you will be getting back to them. The reason for this is a situation that you did not foresee has come to your attention and you will be dealing within it personally. Once this matter is sorted the producer will be altered. Ask them to remind all employees of the current procedure and to tell them that this is soon to be updated due to innocents that have happened recently. Proceed then to sending an email to the offending person to set up a meeting in few weeks time. Then realise a slight version on the said procedure to include you the right to give the verbal warning if you consider it necessary before the meeting. Once you have stated such set a meeting up with his boss that a member of his team is to be discipline by yourself.

Have the meeting with the offender and give him the verbal warning and document it. This way you might be able not to realise the sites accessed addresses but still have given him the warning.

Kindred69

[valhallen]

Nope - I'm 30 and it just keeps getting better

class I got ages to go with it all just gettin better

hmmmm as for the dilema am in 2 minds about it myself....

1. His sexuality should have no bearing on his punishment - straight/bi/gay doesn't matter he broke company policy and should be dealt with in the same way as everyone else
2. Because as debs says our world is not balck & white if you do bring him up about it will he be treated the same as everyone else?

hmmmmm it may not help for this case but you could have some system for future probs where an email or terminal msg is sent to the employee informing them that their surfing habits have been logged and further instances will result in disciplinary action.....that would be enough to scare them into not doing it again......hopefully.

v_Ln

[zaggy]

Originally posted here by valhallen

hmmmmm it may not help for this case but you could have some system for future probs where an email or terminal msg is sent to the employee informing them that their surfing habits have been logged and further instances will result in disciplinary action.....that would be enough to scare them into not doing it again......hopefully.

v_Ln [/B]

That sounds like a good idea for the future. I agree with the personal approach as well. I am the manager of our company and when there is a problem it works best for us to speak directly to the person. It helps to avoid rumours among the rest of the staff.

[ZeroOne]

I was also going to suggest sending an email (NOT anonymous as KorpDeath suggested nor like asking him to a business meeting). Format the email just like you would have said it to him face to face. Explain that it is your procedure to first send one warning email and if that's not enough then do the report (I didn't quite get it if you usually send an email or not but if not this is not a big lie, is it?). Also mention that you actually pay for the bandwidth. If he continues his "surfing habits", feel very free to do the report. I don't think the boss actually checks what the page that you refer to contains but I understand your problem if the address itself says it all...

[draziw]

I think someone already said it, but it sounds like your policy needs to be modified slightly, so as to protect the "privacy" of the individual in the workplace (Innocent until proven guilty, right?). In the past, I've worked at places where we would depend on "two witnesses to every issue." So, the security team would basically give the "thumbs up," so to speak, and indicate that something was clearly outside policy and present that to a manager (or the appropriate person). It was then up to the manager, along with a security person (usually the security person and the security manager/director) with possibly an HR person and their manager to all sit down with the employee and say "We noticed that you violated this work policy and just wanted to let you know that we know about it - don't let it happen again." The employee's actions, essentially, would be known to only the security team and, after said report, would end up in a locked file cabinet inside a security-only lab, on a secured floor -- not until they violated the policy to the point of "further disciplinary action" were the actual logs ever put in to the employee's file...

Yeah, not a perfect system, but hopefully could protect the employee's privacy enough...

I also like (and have used - particularly with "valued" employees) the previous suggestion of "approaching the employee personally/casually" and mentioning that you knew what was going on and, "this will remain between us, just leave those practices outside of the office" sort of deal. I might also back it with "good thing I was the one that noticed, else we might not have been able to keep it private" sort of idea. The only conflict here is not having a witness there to what is/was said... but, if the employee's the sort that I think you said he was, that shouldn't be much of a problem, I'd guess.

G'luck... let us know how you deal with it and how it works.

[8*B@LL]

well, i think the easiest way to have a personal chat with them would be to just walk over to his office and if he's not alone ask him to stop by your office later.

when he comes up just mention what you saw(remember that there is also the possibility that his username/pass have been compromised) and tell him that it will go no further than those walls provided it stops. tell him to consider that his verbal warning, and if he continues the policy will be followed with a written warning and then a pink slip.

if possible, it would be adventagious to record the conversation and make it clear to him before you start that you will be recording. that way if any clames are made later about what went on you will have the tape to show the truth.

there is no need to verbally list the sites, but merely say that the logs show browsing of pornographic sites which is against company policy.

if it is possible(if you keep this kind of file), update his file to show a verbal warning has been issued and also i would, as others have said, update the policy to account for nondiscript privacy issues. do not change the policy to say anything about sexualty or anything, just say that it will be handled by the person who discovers the activity if that person deturmins that divulging the actual details to the person's direct supervisor could lead to an "unhealthy work enviroment". that way it is just corporate enough to make people understand that it has to be done and just casual enough to get the point accross.

[GreekGoddess]

Even with a modified policy, what is supposed to be closed doors usually never is. People talk, and in this situation, if no one knew about his sexuality, even though it isn't supposed to be an issue, it will be. That's why I asked if ntsa could conceal the exact websites if he chose to report him. Especially now that there are logs of the conversations as well as uploaded pictures and a membership to the site. I realize that even a superior is supposed to keep confidentiality, but people talk, and all it takes is telling one person before the information spreads. This is more of a case of saving face rather than reprimand in my opinion. If he's not open about his sexuality and he was reported and the word got out, he could easily have a defamation of character suit on the company, if he were that type of person. There are so many things to consider. Everyone loves a good piece of juicy gossip. Hell, I'm not afraid to admit that I love a good piece of info now and again, but not when it comes at the cost of embarrassing an employee because of his sexual preference.

I'd definitely go with the personal approach, I think in all honesty, it's your best bet.