Fidelity's decision last week to fire four employees for playing fantasy football on the job highlights an issue — Internet usage at work — to which advisers are paying closer attention these days.
Most advisory firms don't have policy guidelines for private Internet usage while at work, industry experts said. It's a gray area which can be confusing for employees.
As a result, practice-management experts recommend that managers set ground rules, making clear whether employees are allowed to use company computers for any kind of personal use, such as e-mail, office pools — even fantasy football.
Cameron Pettigrew, a relationship manager at Fidelity, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram he was fired for gambling on the job.
“They interrogated me as though I was some sort of international gambling kingpin,” he told the paper.
“We aren't making any judg- ments on fantasy leagues,” Fidelity spokesman Vin Loporchio wrote in an e-mail to
InvestmentNews. “If it is permitted legally, people can do this on their own time. Our company policies relate to the professional conduct of our employees. We do not want our company's equipment and resources to be used for these purposes.”
Industry experts said a number of issues arise when employees use work computers for personal use. They may accidentally send out client information or they could introduce a virus to the firm's system while downloading data for personal use.
Maureen Wilke, founder of consulting firm Wilke & Associates Inc., encourages advisers to give employees clear and specific rules about Internet usage at work. “When employees are in the office, they're on your time,” she said. “They shouldn't be Facebooking. But if it's during their lunch time, that's great.”
James Barnash, a consultant with Stride Consulting Inc., which works with about 35 advisory firms, said he always took a more casual approach when he supervised employees at Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp.
“There was no way you could tell what people were doing on the computer,” he said. “I don't mind an occasional visit to Facebook or private e-mails, but I always expect a day's work for a day's pay.”
Mark Penske, chairman and chief executive of United Advisors Wealth Management, said his firm takes a rigid approach to Internet usage because he's worried what might happen if an employee accidentally sends out client information in a personal e-mail.
“We tell everyone we're monitoring and copying everything you do at every moment,” he said. “It's probably a bit overbearing, but the potential downside is so huge that you want to be careful.”
Advisers should specifically address the issue of gambling and office pools, said consultant Mary Dunlap.
E-mail Lisa Shidler at [email protected].
