After pornography, Web chat rooms (26%) and personal e-mail browsing (23%) were the second and third most-frequent complaints brought to the attention of the HR department, respectively. Forty percent of all complaints were brought to HR by co-workers unhappy with their colleagues wasting time on the Internet.

While Internet misuse within British companies is a common problem, it is an issue rarely discussed publicly. According to the survey, HR managers get involved with an average of one complaint per month, yet most prefer to deal with the problem by having a quiet word with the person in question (56%), followed by a verbal warning (29%). Nearly a quarter (23%) resort to dismissing the employee.

Jonathan Naylor, Barrister in the Employment, Pensions and Benefits Group of Morgan Cole Law Firm, said: "Dismissing an employee for Internet misuse is a substantial cost to the employer. While there are the obvious costs of advertising for new hires, recruitment, training and supervision, there are also additional financial burdens caused by the interruption to work patterns, the damage to morale and the negative publicity to the organisation as a result of the dismissal."

A study in 2001 by IDS Brief found that the costs of replacing key staff could be as much as 150 percent of the employee's annual salary. In addition, if the dismissal process is handled poorly by the employer, the organisation could also face Employment Tribunal proceedings, incurring further management time and costs.

Faced with the monetary troubles caused by Internet misuse and employee dismissals, many companies are using employee Internet management (EIM) software as a way to automatically enforce its existing Internet access policy.

Geoff Haggart, vice president at Websense, said: "Companies are increasingly looking to protect themselves and their employees from the legal implications from viewing pornography or downloading illegal software. EIM software supports an organisation's efforts to improve employee productivity, conserve network bandwidth and save storage costs. It also automates management of the Internet and provides flexibility that enables employees to access acceptable content at appropriate times, such as their lunch hours."

According to the survey, HR managers and officers believe that 20 minutes a day for personal Internet surfing is a fair and acceptable amount of time, particularly in today's work environment in which the Internet is an integral part. However, respondents also noted that they believe the average time employees spend doing personal surfing is actually closer to 30 minutes a day.

People with their own offices may be the worst offenders at abusing their Internet privileges according to 57% of HR personnel, who believe more personal surfing gets done behind closed doors.