Submitted by JaBa on
in
Forums
Good day/evening everyone! I have an interesting scenario that I need some advice on. I have a male remote employee that is required to do "screen sharing" on a regular basis. A woman in our organization was working with him on task when it required him to share his screen. She noticed that he had personal email accounts linked to his business laptop which is problem #1. Problem #2 was several notifications were displayed which had sexual subjects and wordy vulgar content.
E.g. "1 missed F***kbuddy message", "InstaF***k request pending"
With no actual pornographic images displayed, I'm wondering how you would proceed. Should this be reported to HR immediately? The woman was shocked more than anything and not offended; just concerned that someone else may be exposed to it. Is this grounds for termination or more of a written warning?
Thank you for your feedback in advance. First time running across this scenario.
I don't know if it's grounds
I don't know if it's grounds for termination or not, but it certainly should be reported to HR. I can't think of too many things that are more unprofessional than that. Beyond the content itself, it shows incredibly bad judgement and a careless attitude.
Prob #1 Maybe - Prob #2 No
I think your only immediate case would be problem #1 - the personal account on his business laptop... IF you have a strict policy that is enforced without exception. My company has that policy as well but it is NEVER enforced
Problem #2 is worth addressing but not grounds for termination by itself. The person will claim that these items are spam and were sent to him without consent. Open up your own personal spam folder. How many disgusting and offensive items are in there?
Talk to him. Explain that this material is offensive and unprofessional. Explain that the company policy to keep personal accounts off of company laptops exist for legitimate reasons, such as this. Direct him to resolve the issue. If it happens again then you got a case.
Or notify IT that you want some monitoring done. I'm always surprised at what IT can find out.