Employer’s Computers For Employment Activities Not Personal Musings

Employment lawyers continually face the problem of employees who write their innermost thoughts on the company computer. Why this happens is understandable. People spend a lot of time at their jobs and office drama and employment issues are topics of interest everywhere from water cooler conversations to television shows and movies. It is understandable that after a hard day’s work you want to vent. All that we employment lawyers ask is that you vent on your own time and on your own computers at home.

Office computers are the property of the company, as is anything on those computers from emails of your favorite crock-pot recipe to musings about what kind of tree you would be. While these examples are funny, others are not. A terminated employee who keeps a resume on her desktop and job postings in her files has just given her employer a basis for termination.

In a recent case in Iowa, a young girl kept a diary of how much she was slacking off and getting paid for it. This might be fun to read but it was also a cause for termination. As it turned out, the online diary of procrastination and malaise also led an administrative judge to deny the girl the right to collect unemployment. Judge Susan Ackeman said the journal indicated a refusal to work.

Next time you are at work and you are mad at the boss and frustrated by your co-workers and being driven crazy by the fluorescent lights, remember that whatever you put on that computer is the company’s not yours. Leave your innermost thoughts, feelings, opinions and job searches anywhere you want except the company computer.