The Hollister City Council approved a new policy Tuesday night
to flip the switch to the
”
off
”
position for employees’ personal use of the city’s computer
system.
The Hollister City Council approved a new policy Tuesday night to flip the switch to the “off” position for employees’ personal use of the city’s computer system.
Interim City Manager Edward Kriens said the policy was not prompted by any serious abuse of the system, but to put something into place to prevent misuse of the system.
“The city didn’t have a definitive policy,” Kriens said. “If you don’t have a policy, I think it’s appropriate to put one into place so that employees have some sort of guidelines to follow.”
He said the policy, which goes into effect immediately, is not much different than the types of computer policies established by many businesses in the private sector.
“It is very similar to what a number of companies have been doing,” Kriens said.
In general, the policy prohibits employees from using the computer system for personal use unless authorized by the head of their department.
“I think it’s a good policy and I support it,” Mayor Brian Conroy said. “I think any organization should have guidelines for computer uses.”
Conroy said many businesses, including his own place of employment, have established policies concerning the appropriate use of computers by employees.
“The city should not be any different,” Conroy said. “Computer uses should be regarding work-related matters.”
Violations of the policy can have serious disciplinary consequences.
“Any unlawful use of the City System or use in violation of this policy may subject the employee to the termination of access rights, or other disciplinary action including termination of employment or contract. Unlawful use may also result in personal legal liability or referral for criminal prosecution,” the policy reads, in part.
The new policy also warns employees not to have any expectation of privacy in using the system, including their e-mail accounts.
The policy states:
“E-mail communication on the system is not private or confidential, and may be subject to public disclosure and monitoring by the City.
“E-mail is viewed as an effective alternative to inter-office memos, suggestion boxes, or general bulletins. Communication on the City’s information systems should be focused on work-related (issues).”
Employees are also prohibited from browsing the Internet unless their research is specifically related to city business or a pre-approved training session.
City officials said they have been working on developing a computer policy since late last year after a computer virus wormed its way into the Hollister Police Department’s computer system and sent hundreds of copies of confidential personnel records and statistical data across the Internet.
