I just got a 3 day suspention for using internet

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Mirilis

Mirilis

Lvl 10 Beer Nerd
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So work told me I abused their policy because I used internet for non business use. Even though the policy states that I can have limeted use as long as it doesnt affect my work (which it didnt), and i dont go to any obviously wrong sites.. like watch porn.

They gave me a 3 day suspention without pay because I spent time on beer brewing sites (HBT), and a lot of hits on my school website (I had an e-book for physics open in the background that I read periodically through the day when I wasnt busy.)

If it happens again I get fired and I have to pay them back all the relocation money they spent on me to get up here which is probably what they want anyway.

So now I got the rest of the week off to sit around the house and read brewing magazines and work on homework.
 
Hopefully you aren't missing the $, if that's the case Hurray!

Either way that is kinda crappy of them. I would give them NO excuse going forward.
 
I'm the system admin, I'm the guy who looks at the logs :) I'm not behind the firewall either (boy did the techs howl when we turned up the firewall earlier this week too! hahaha).

So yeah I guess I'm the guy who would rat you out if you worked here, sorry! (I wouldn't unless I saw you were browsing stuff when there was work WAITING on you)

Sorry to hear about the suspension hopefully it won't reflect too badly on you later. I know I've worked at places where they could hold a grudge forever.
 
That sucks! Any way you can dispute it? Also, is there a point after which you don't have to pay back the relocation money? If so I'd plan on getting a new job after that point if they tend to bend the rules in their favor like that.
 
I would have been fired a long time ago. Luckily my boss spends more time on Facebook than I do looking at HBT.
 
Sounds to me like they may be handing you enough write ups so they can fire you on a whim in the future if they ever feel they have a genuine need to do so. They are most likely just giving themselves the upper hand on you.
 
That sucks. Luckily we outsource our IT. The last thing they are looking at the 1 day they are here is what sites people are going onto during work. It sucks, but play by the rules from here on out. It would suck to get fired for something as petty as browsing the internet, even if during downtime.
 
Man that sucks. I am lucky in that I work at a small business and I do all the IT work. I dont think anyone else here even knows how to check their internet history in Internet Explorer
 
Edcculus said:
That sucks. Luckily we outsource our IT. The last thing they are looking at the 1 day they are here is what sites people are going onto during work. It sucks, but play by the rules from here on out. It would suck to get fired for something as petty as browsing the internet, even if during downtime.
Click to expand...

What I got from his post is that limited personal use is allowed, so it is up to the bossman to decide when he has gone beyond his "limited" use.
 
I'm the IT admin here too, and when we were part of a large corporation my bosses had me shut off the Web Filter option in the router, which basically sends our requests to Toronto where the Corporate IT guys could decide where we went. They want us to have Ebay and all that jazz.

They let the supervisors decide whose time is being wasted. My boss has not said one thing to me about my browsing, and I'm pretty sure she knows that I do some of that in my spare time.

If this kind of thing came up here, I'm pretty sure the person in question would get a lecture and warning. Even p0rn would probably get a warning. Next time, though, forget about it.

I would think that unless your internet use policy strictly forbids ANY personal browsing, they should at least give a warning first and state what they see is the problem. Usually that will correct a problem of someone surfing too much without giving monetary punishment.

Reminds of the last place I worked. I stayed late to do some stuff and noticed some heavy traffic on our internet router (ISDN). I trace it to the nicest guy in the office setting up automatic after-hours porn downloads. I left a message on his computer (after I hacked into it. He had passworded screensaver) stating that this behaviour was not permitted at our company. It's always the ones that least expect.
 
the Limited use thing doesnt give an actual number.. it just says it is left to the discression of IT dept. So they may like it one week and hate it another.

My internet usage hasnt changed since I moved here in May. (I have to work for 2 years for them without having to pay back the $22,000 in relocation expenses) I still have about a year and a half to go.

When that time is up i will have a nice exit interview planned for them.

The worst thing is that they are a bunch hypocrites. One of my friends was an IT guy there for years and he told me stories of other people doing the same thing. (specifically the people who root through my email... no one roots through theirs and they have admin rights so they can just delete the evidence when they are done.)
 
Homercidal said:
They said this is my second offense..I got yelled at once on feb 4, 2008 about an email they found in my email. (I forwarded a brewing system quote i got from Ian at NABS) I didnt have time to read it at home becuase I was working 14 hour days, so I just forwarded it to work so I could read it there and they didnt like it then... but that was 2 years ago
Click to expand...
 
Sounds like there's an IT guy who has a problem with alcohol. Maybe alcoholics in the family?

Sounds personal to me.
 
Only curiosity, here, how is the "relocation money" clause stated?

Is is really "solid", from the employer's standpoint, i.e., they would not have any problem enforcing it, and does it clear your state labor laws?
 
My last job, we had entire buildings locked out of the Internet. Others routed through a proxy that restricted where they could go. No other way to deal with sales people.
 
I would lodge a formal complaint with HR about the situation and make your case. They can't fire you for doing that (unless they want to pay you large sums of money in a settlement). You have rights as an employee and they shouldn't be abused. Make sure you get the 'violated' policy spelled out more concretely so that you can refute their claim and/or avoid a repeat in the future. Unless the site is blocked by their filter, then whats wrong with surfing the web on your lunch break?
 
david_42 said:
My last job, we had entire buildings locked out of the Internet. Others routed through a proxy that restricted where they could go. No other way to deal with sales people.
Click to expand...

Place I used to work long ago did network management for small businesses. One of the larger customers we had had this one sales dude who was an absolute horn dog. We had to go monthly to do an internet usage audit. First time we did it, I opened the gateway logs, saw his activity and called him into the network room.

Me: You know I have to audit these internet logs and let the CEO know of any major browsing outside of work related issues, and your activity is pretty bad, man.
Him: I'll pay you
Me: $50 cash every month when I come to audit the logs.
Him: Deal!

That little arrangement lasted 6 months, before he was let go for some other offense.
 
Just an idea, you could try some backhanded tactics. At my work, which is somewhat political in principle, everything is proceduralized, but they work in a little bit of wiggle room. If the policy is not specified, then it leaves a lot of wiggle room for them and a little bit for you. If they don't have a written reprimand of some sort in your file, then it didn't happen and you can use that to your advantage. You ALWAYS have access to your file at work, if they don't let you then I'd watch my back. If they do have it documented, then ask (politely) what is acceptable and what is not. Ask for a copy of the reprimand, and then take notes as to what is and is not acceptable and get someone to sign and date it. Then, if they arbitrarily decide that you are at fault again, you can have something solid to stand on. Just play it out like you are confused as to what you have specifically done wrong, so you don't make the mistake again. I would recommend that it be your supervisor instead of HR.

It really tears me up when employers think they can push employees around with threats of any type. My previous employer had a standard answer to complaints; "If you don't like it, you can get a different job. And you know what the economy is like, so good luck..."
 
Be thankful.

I was fired from a previous job without warning. I'm at a better job now but, still. That sucked.
 
scrambledegg81 said:
All you need to do: get an iPhone or laptop with mobile broadband. IT won't be able to proove a thing.

Also I don't have to tell you this is the perfect time to brew a batch.
Click to expand...

Lots of places don't let you bring in an outside laptop. We won't, had too many people watching movies at their desks :)
 
Grimster said:
Place I used to work long ago did network management for small businesses. One of the larger customers we had had this one sales dude who was an absolute horn dog. We had to go monthly to do an internet usage audit. First time we did it, I opened the gateway logs, saw his activity and called him into the network room.

Me: You know I have to audit these internet logs and let the CEO know of any major browsing outside of work related issues, and your activity is pretty bad, man.
Him: I'll pay you
Me: $50 cash every month when I come to audit the logs.
Him: Deal!

That little arrangement lasted 6 months, before he was let go for some other offense.
Click to expand...


Are you proud of this ?
 
lehr said:
Are you proud of this ?
Click to expand...

I suppose everything you've ever done has been 100% morally perfect? If so then bravo.

I was relating a story from my long ago past, I presented it neither with pride nor shame. It merely was presented as an anecdote to be shared.

I also speed sometimes on my way to work, want to pull out your moral compass and tsk at me about that too? Oh and technically, homebrewing is illegal in my state, you gonna turn me in because I'm not 100% obeying the law?

Careful if that high horse goes under any low hanging branches it might just knock you on the head :drunk:
 
Grimster said:
I suppose everything you've ever done has been 100% morally perfect? If so then bravo.

I was relating a story from my long ago past, I presented it neither with pride nor shame. It merely was presented as an anecdote to be shared.

I also speed sometimes on my way to work, want to pull out your moral compass and tsk at me about that too? Oh and technically, homebrewing is illegal in my state, you gonna turn me in because I'm not 100% obeying the law?

Careful if that high horse goes under any low hanging branches it might just knock you on the head :drunk:
Click to expand...

I don't think you charged him enough... Could easily have started with $200 and negotiated down to $100 if he wouldn't do it (my moral compass lost it's needle).
 
Grimster said:
I suppose everything you've ever done has been 100% morally perfect? If so then bravo.

I was relating a story from my long ago past, I presented it neither with pride nor shame. It merely was presented as an anecdote to be shared.

I also speed sometimes on my way to work, want to pull out your moral compass and tsk at me about that too? Oh and technically, homebrewing is illegal in my state, you gonna turn me in because I'm not 100% obeying the law?

Careful if that high horse goes under any low hanging branches it might just knock you on the head :drunk:
Click to expand...

difference between speeding/ home brewing and extortion is about a 10 year prison sentence.. I am not passing any type of judgment here . I wouldn't be posting anything about doing something illegal on a public forum
 
springer said:
difference between speeding/ home brewing and extortion is about a 10 year prison sentence.. I am not passing any type of judgment here . I wouldn't be posting anything about doing something illegal on a public forum
Click to expand...
:off:
Haha this was 12-15 years ago, pretty sure the statutes of limitation on petty bribery is long past. Especially when the full sum was less than $400 and the company in question no longer even exists (either the one servicing the contract nor the one paying for it) so I'll take my chances.
 
scrambledegg81 said:
All you need to do: get an iPhone or laptop with mobile broadband. IT won't be able to proove a thing.

Also I don't have to tell you this is the perfect time to brew a batch.
Click to expand...

I would but I am out of grain... I had about 175 saved up for a grain buy and I was gonna get it till this happened... now I have to spend that on my water bill. .. but really who needs water anyway
 
Mirilis said:
I would but I am out of grain... I had about 175 saved up for a grain buy and I was gonna get it till this happened... now I have to spend that on my water bill. .. but really who needs water anyway
Click to expand...

I'm sorry you're going through this. That sucks. Unfortunately, you gotta pay the water bill since you can't brew without water. ;)
 
Hey you IT guys. How do you look at logs and know what sites are being opened?

I have a home LAN with a typical home router. I have opened the logs and see a list of IP's that have apparently been opened. But no way of knowing what they all are.

Do you guys have some type of reverse DNS to change the IP's to names?

My kids are old enough that I don't have to worry about it now, but I would have liked to be able to check up a few years ago. Now just curious.
 
funny-dog-pictures-job-butthed.jpg
 
It dont matter if they pee in it or not now.. I installed a 5 stage RO a couple weeks ago so I can use it to save up and store my brewing water. Then I bought a 0.1 accurace gram scale on ebay for 2 dollars from Hong Kong so I can build it into brewing liquor
 
At my job, they just block sites related to a whole swath of subjects, so you can't even go there in the first place.
 

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