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The following sample policy was excerpted from The Book of Company Policies, published by HR Specialist, © 2007. Edit for your organization's purposes.

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“The facilities to provide Internet access at ZYX come at considerable resource cost and commitment. The Internet’s vast informational and educational capabilities can help us all do a better job, but not at the expense of either productivity or security for our core business systems and sensitive company and client
data.

“First and foremost for ZYX, the Internet is a business tool. Employees are expected to use Internet access in a professional manner, primarily for business-related research and communication.

“Employees with Internet access must be clear on the point that ZYX can and will monitor Internet usage for appropriateness. All existing ZYX policies apply to conduct on the Internet, especially those that deal with intellectual property protection, privacy, misuse of company resources, sexual harassment, information and data security, and confidentiality.

“All ZYX employees receive a written copy of this policy and must sign the following statement either during new-hire orientation or as soon as possible thereafter:

“I have received a written copy of the ZYX policy on Internet security and usage. I fully understand the terms of this policy and agree to abide by them. I realize that security software may record for management use the Internet address of any site that I visit and keep a record of any network activity in which I transmit or receive any kind of file. I acknowledge that any message I send or receive will be recorded and stored in an archive file for management use. I know that any violation of this policy could lead to dismissal or even criminal prosecution.”

• Employees may use ZYX Internet facilities for nonbusiness research or browsing during meal or other breaks, or outside of work hours, provided that all other usage policies are adhered to.
• Offensive and/or sexually explicit documents may not be displayed, printed, archived, stored, distributed, edited or recorded using resources.
• Software or files with direct business use may be downloaded via the Internet into the ZYX network and thus become the property of ZYX. Such files or software may be used only in ways consistent with their licenses or copyrights.
• No employee may use ZYX facilities to knowingly download or distribute pirated software or data.
• Intentional use of any company resources for any illegal activity is grounds for immediate dismissal, and ZYX will cooperate with any legitimate law enforcement activity in that regard.
• Employees should schedule resource-intensive operations, such as large file transfers, video downloads, mass e-mailing and the like, for off-peak times.
• Any employee attempting to disable, defeat or circumvent any company security facility (firewalls, proxies, screening programs, etc.) is subject to immediate dismissal.
• Any file or software downloaded from the Internet to ZYX equipment must be scanned for viruses before being accessed.