An Internet Policy for Your Employees

8. Implementing Policy

8.1 Consult employees on what should be included in the policy.

8.2 Make the policy available to everyone.

• Ask employees to sign a copy to confirm they have read it.
• Refer to the policy in your employment contracts.

8.3 Put in place any software that will help regulate Internet use without obstructing legitimate access.

• Filtering software automatically prevents access to inappropriate sites. But this may fail to block all inappropriate sites and could inadvertently prevent access to useful sites. You can also use such software to allow access to specified sites only at certain times (eg outside normal working hours).
• Monitoring software produces a log of the sites each user visits, and any downloads made. But unless you actively check the log, monitoring software will only provide evidence after problems have occurred. There are legal restrictions on how you may monitor employees' use of the Internet (and email). If you wish to use monitoring software, you must tell employees that you intend to do so in both your Internet policy and your employment contracts.
• Virus-checking and other security software must be considered.

8.4 Enforce the policy.

• Make an individual responsible for enforcing the policy. Typically, the network administrator will be responsible for routine enforcement (eg monitoring traffic). But a director should take overall responsibility.
• Apply the policy consistently and fairly to everyone, including yourself. Clarify any exceptions.
• Make sure you have an appropriate disciplinary procedure in place to deal with breaches of the policy.