Gross misconduct advice

[jigsa]

Sorry for a long first post but really need help...

 

Basically I have done something incredibly stupid. While logged into work Wifi on my phone (with a personal login) I have accessed an inappropriate website on several occasions over one month.

 

The website is adult in nature and has a shopping section where you can purchase goods. After buying a load of ridiculous stuff for a blokes stag do I was never sent the items and got into a long dispute with the seller back and forth on the site's email system.

 

The front page of the site has adult images however, my path was always the same - log in and respond to the email. I would never have downloaded or watched anything. Furthermore I would never have knowingly used the work internet. We have the cloud in the same building and I just didn't realise. I doubt that any of that matters really though and it's still no excuse.

 

So now I'm stuck, I know I've been in the wrong and undoubtedly broken company policy, but just don't know whether to come out and tell my manager or wait and ignore it. I know I'm well thought of in the company and have been there almost 2 years but I am terrified of losing my job all the same.

 

Any advice?

[honeybee13]

Hello and welcome to CAG.

 

I hope the forum guys will be along later with advice for you.

 

My best, HB

[jigsa]

Thanks and hi to you too - I appreciate it's a bit much asking for advice before even contributing but I'm worrying far too much right now...

[Sidewinder]

I think that everything that you need to say to your employer is contained in your first post. Clearly you acknowledge wrongdoing, but have a plausible mitigation. You know that the buck stops with you and seem willing to make amends for what seems to be an error of judgement.

 

You don't actually say but I assume that the employer has found out? Have you been suspended? You say this is against company policy, but what does the policy actually say?

 

I would always say in circumstances such as this that honesty, grovelling and heartfelt apologies go some distance to keeping one's job, especially when there is a degree of mitigation and an otherwise good work history, and I see no reason to suggest otherwise here.

[jigsa]

I think that everything that you need to say to your employer is contained in your first post. Clearly you acknowledge wrongdoing, but have a plausible mitigation. You know that the buck stops with you and seem willing to make amends for what seems to be an error of judgement.

 

You don't actually say but I assume that the employer has found out? Have you been suspended? You say this is against company policy, but what does the policy actually say?

 

I would always say in circumstances such as this that honesty, grovelling and heartfelt apologies go some distance to keeping one's job, especially when there is a degree of mitigation and an otherwise good work history, and I see no reason to suggest otherwise here.

 

My employer hasn't found out and no action has been taken. The majority of logins to the site were over 3 weeks ago now as well.

 

I can't remember the exact policy but I work for one of the largest companies in the UK, so it's pretty comprehensive. Normal use of the net etc. is allowed at work at most times, but obviously nothing inappropriate.

 

I think honesty and just owning up in advance of anything come out is the option I'm leaning to. At the moment it's really not making me sleep easy that it could just come up at any time. Many thanks for taking the time to respond - it's much appreciated.

[Sidewinder]

That does indeed give you a bit of a dilemma!!

 

My experience is yelling at me that inappropriate use tends to get flagged at a very early stage - keywords tend to generate a big flashing light and a pretty instant report - so I would imagine that even if it was noticed originally then it has been deemed insufficiently offensive to warrant further action, especially if there has been no recurrence. It may also be the case that as the access was via a device not registered with the company that it would be difficult to identify the owner (although the fact that you need to log onto the network might give some clues!).

 

On the other hand, and it would bring peace of mind, pre-empting trouble might stand you in good stead. I would though be extremely careful exactly 'who' you speak to. It might be better going to IT rather than to your direct manager. This might then result in a conversation along the lines of 'don't worry about it, the logs have all been deleted by now anyway' which would then avoid it having to go further.

 

It may also be worth changing the emphasis of 'how' you come present your case.

 

Basically I have done something incredibly stupid. While logged into work Wifi on my phone (with a personal login) I have accessed an inappropriate website on several occasions over one month[/Quote]

 

This portrays the picture in one's mind that you deliberately accessed a site knowing it to be inappropriate and suggests pre-mediated wrongdoing, whereas:-

 

"I had ordered some joke items for a friend's stag party from a website and was in dispute with the company over the order and only realised later that I had communicated the complaint via their website via the company's network, even though this was on my personal phone. I am concerned that in doing this I may have inadvertently breached the company's internet policy so wanted to explain at the earliest opportunity"

 

To my mind sounds more the actions of somebody who is genuinely concerned at having made a mistake, rather than coming from one who knowingly accessed an iffy website only realised later that he might get into trouble.

 

Your call, but I am sure you will be OK with this. Let us know what you decide to do and the outcome if you do come clean!

[steampowered]

To be honest, it strikes me as unlikely that work would find out about this unless someone specifically reported it. It sounds unlikely there will be anyone actively monitoring which web pages people visit.

[Grotesque]

No but remember pink pixels...