With the holiday season's arrival, a considerable number of employers say they will permit their employees to shop online while they're at work.
According to a new survey conducted on behalf of staffing firm Robert Half Technology, less than one-third of the chief information officers surveyed said that their company had some type of policy that forbade their workers from shopping through online retailers while they were on the job. This is down considerably from last year when a similar poll was taken, when nearly 60 percent of companies blocked their workers' access to online shopping websites.
While it appears as though more employers are making some of their HR compliance rules regarding online shopping more lenient, a considerable number of them attach certain requirements to these allowances. For example, the poll found that 54 percent of CIOs allowed access to these online shopping sites, but monitored how frequently they were being used. In 2011, only 30 percent of companies kept track of their workers' internet shopping frequency.
Lara Dodo, regional vice president of the staffing and technology development firm, indicated that it may be in business owners' best interest to loosen their standards during the holiday shopping season.
"Allowing staff to tackle their personal to-do lists at work assists in maintaining overall productivity, as they are less likely to confront the long line-ups and traffic delays, that go along with holiday crowds," said Dodo.
One of the busiest periods for online buying occurs on the Monday following Thanksgiving, more commonly referred to as Cyber Monday. Experts anticipate spending during the shopping event may jump by 20 percent this year.
