Internet Usage Policy

The following rules require strict adherence. Any infraction

thereof could result in disciplinary action. Disciplinary actions
range from verbal warnings to termination; the severity of the
misbehavior governs the severity of the disciplinary action.
 The company encourages use of Internet to "Official
Purpose." Personal use of or time spent for personal gain
is however not encouraged.
 Once authorization is approved you are responsible for the
security of your account password and you will be held
responsible for all use or misuse of your account. You must
maintain secure passwords and never use an account
assigned to another user.
 Hacking is the unauthorized attempt or entry into any
other computer. Never make an unauthorized attempt to
enter any computer. Such an action is a violation.
 Sending threatening, slanderous, racially and/or sexually
harassing messages is strictly prohibited.
 Viewing of inappropriate Sites is strictly prohibited
 The representation of yourself as someone else, real or
fictional, or a message sent anonymously is prohibited.
 Downloading a file from the Internet can bring viruses with
it. Scan all downloaded files with Agency standard virus
prevention software.
 Never send post or provide access to any confidential
Agency materials or information.
  Almost all data and software is subject to the copyright
laws.
 Care should be exercised whenever accessing or copying
any information that does not belong to you.
 Software which requires purchase or reimbursement for
its use, such as shareware, requires strict adherence to the
terms and conditions specified by the owner unless
written permission for unrestricted use has been obtained.
 You are obligated to cooperate with any investigation
regarding the use of your computer equipment and which
your general manager has authorized.
 Chain letters are illegal and may not be transmitted
through e-mail.
 For any incident, please report to IT support Team.
 For any Software Installation, please contact IT support
Team.
 You need to use a secure password on all systems as per the password policy. These credentials
must be unique and must not be used on other external systems or services.
 . You must immediately notify in the event that a device containing in scope data is lost (e.g.
mobiles, laptops etc). 9. In the event that you find a system or process which you suspect is not
compliant with this policy or the objective of information security you have a duty to inform so
that they can take appropriate action. 10. If you have been assigned the ability to work remotely
you must take extra precaution to ensure that data is appropriately handled. Seek guidance
from if you are unsure as to your responsibilities.

ZTSPL provides access to the information available on the

Internet/Intranet to its employees specifically
for business related and other permitted purposes only.

Employees should not use the facility of Internet/Intranet

in violation of the laws and regulations of
any country.
The downloading, possession, distribution or copying of a
copyright work (e.g. a computer program,
document, photograph, piece of music, video etc.) is an
infringement of copy right unless properly
authorized to do so by the copyright owner. None should
be downloaded or stored until one is
satisfied that such authorization has been obtained.

Any files or software properly downloaded into ZTSPL

network in compliance with copyright
authorizations or licenses become the property of XYZ

Images, audio or videos may not be downloaded from the

Internet using XYZ facilities except for
explicit business-related use. Permitted file transfers or
video downloads etc. which are
communications-intensive should be scheduled for off-
peak times.

Transfer or uploading of any software or data licensed to

or owned by XYZ or any data about living
individuals (personal data) is not normally permitted.

Normally transfer of any confidential / sensitive data

pertaining to XYZ through Internet is not
permitted. However, with explicit authorization from the
appropriate authority in XYZ, confidential /
sensitive data pertaining to XYZ may be transferred across
the Internet after encrypted using
encryption software approved by the XYZ Management.
Users must not possess, access, display, archive, store,
edit, record or use (including send to others)
any kind of sexually explicit, indecent or obscene images
or text on XYZ systems. Employees must
disconnect immediately if by accident connected to an
Internet site that contains such material and
should advise the Line Manager immediately if receive any
such unsolicited material of this nature.

Users must remain polite and respectful of the feelings and

beliefs of others in all dealings on the
Internet/Intranet and must not knowingly make any
statements which do (or may) defame, slander
or intend to lower the reputation of any person or entity or
their goods or services.

Sexual harassment is only one type of harassment, and it, along with all other forms
of harassment, should not be allowed in your workplace.
Harassment of any kind has no place in the workplace. If you're an employer subject to federal anti-discrimination
laws, you have a legal obligation to provide a work environment that is free from intimidation, insult, or ridicule based
on race, color, religion, gender, or national origin. You must also be concerned with preventing harassment because
you can sometimes be sued in state courts, depending on your state's anti-discrimination laws.

Therefore, take steps to prevent and deal with sexual and other types of harassment in your workplace because as
an employer, you may be held liable for your own acts of harassment that affect employees in the workplace, as well
as the acts of your managers, employees, and even harassment by customers, suppliers, and others who regularly
do business with you.

Defining Unlawful Harassment

Harassment is verbal or physical conduct that denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward an individual because
of that person's (or that person's relatives', friends', or associates') race, skin color, religion, gender, national origin,
age, or disability, and that:

 has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment
 has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with the individual's work performance
 otherwise adversely affects the individual's employment opportunities
Harassing conduct includes:

 epithets; slurs; negative stereotyping; or threatening, intimidating, or hostile acts that relate to race, color, religion,
gender, national origin, age, or disability (including jokes or pranks that are hostile or demeaning with regard
to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, or disability)
 written or graphic material that denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward an individual or group because of
race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, or disability and that is displayed on walls, bulletin boards, or
other locations on your premises or circulated in the workplace
The reasonable person standard. If you have a situation where you are trying to determine if some conduct that
has taken place is actually harassing conduct, the way to determine it is to use the "reasonable person" standard. If a
reasonable person in the same or similar circumstances would find the conduct intimidating, hostile, or abusive, then
it's probably harassment.
The reasonable person standard includes consideration of the perspective of persons of the same race, color,
religion, gender, national origin, age, or disability as the harassment victim. For example, if a female employee
complains of harassment, make sure in applying this test that you take the perspective of a woman, not a man. If, in
the perspective of another woman, you would find this conduct harassing, it probably is.
Although harassing conduct must be objectively viewed as creating a hostile work environment to be unlawful, the
subjective perception of the particular harassed employee is still significant. If the employee does not perceive the
work environment to be hostile because of that conduct, the conduct is not unlawful harassment.

What Constitutes Sexual Harassment?

Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature
constitute sexual harassment when one or more of the following is true:

 A person feels that submission to the conduct is necessary in order to get or keep a job.
 A person feels that employment decisions such as raises, promotions, and demotions depend on whether he or
she submits to or rejects the conduct.
 The conduct interferes with a person's work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working
environment.
Some important facts to remember about sexual harassment are:

 Both men and women can be victims of sexual harassment.

 Either a man or a woman can be a harasser. According to a Supreme Court decision, illegal sexual harassment
may be found even where the victim is the same sex as the harasser.
 The person complaining of sexual harassment does not have to be the person at whom the conduct was directed
— it can be someone else who was affected by the conduct.
 Harassment can occur at work, at company-sponsored events, or between coworkers away from work.
 Harassment situations can be peer-against-peer, supervisor-against-employee, or third- party-against employee
(such as when a customer or supplier harasses a worker).
 There are several types of sexual harassment.
When is sexually based conduct harassment? Attraction between employees should be a private matter between
the employees, so long as it does not cross the boundary between welcome conduct and harassment. To determine
whether sexual conduct in the workplace amounts to sexual harassment, distinctions must be made between sexual
advances that are:
 Invited: if the conduct is welcome, harassment has not occurred but could cause difficulties down the line if an
office romance goes sour.
 Uninvited but welcome: again, while there is no harassment, the potential for harassment could exist if a
relationship between two employees breaks up.
 Offensive but tolerated: just because an employee does not make a complaint does not mean that harassment is
not occurring — if you see it or hear of it, put a stop to it.
 Flatly refused: this is clearly harassment and should be handled accordingly.
Sexual harassment can take several forms. The two most common forms are described as quid pro quo sexual
harassment and hostile work environment sexual harassment:
 Quid pro quo harassment. Quid pro quo is Latin for "something for something" or "this for that." When an
employee is asked, either directly or indirectly, to submit to a sexual advance in exchange for some benefit at
work (such as a promotion or a pay advance), quid pro quo harassment has occurred. Only supervisors or
managers can engage in this type of harassment since it requires the authority to grant a job favor in return for
the unwelcome advance or request.
 Hostile work environment harassment. When harassment makes the workplace intolerable because constant
sexual or gender-based activity or comment interferes with an employee's ability to do his or her job, hostile work
environment sexual harassment has occurred. This type of harassment can be committed by coworkers or
supervisors because it does not require any authority to create such an environment. The U.S. Supreme Court
has ruled that sexual desire or attraction need not play a part in hostile work environment harassment; a hostile
work environment may be found, for example, when employees tease and torment another employee of the same
sex unmercifully for reasons relating to the employees physical attributes, love life, etc.
Sexual favoritism can give rise to complaints of sexual harassment. If one employee is granted a promotion in return
for sexual favors, other male and female coworkers can allege sexual harassment by showing that they were denied
an equal opportunity for promotion because of the improper sexual conduct.
Customers, vendors, or other third parties can also engage in sexual harassment. If you, as the business owner,
have some degree of control to stop the behavior, that harassment can be your problem as well. If an employee
complains that a customer is making unwelcome sexual advances, you are obligated to tell the customer to stop.
Common situations that may involve sexual harassment include:

 Pinups in the workplace. Pinups containing sexual material (such as centerfolds) can create a hostile work
environment. Don't allow these in the workplace.
 Asking a coworker for a date. This by itself is not harassment. But if the person refuses the offer, continued
asking can become harassment and should be stopped if a complaint is made.
 Rude treatment of women. A supervisor who treats women rudely, or who constantly demeans the ability of
women to perform work, can be guilty of sexual harassment since adverse actions are being taken on account of
the employees' gender.
 Verbal abuse and jokes. Comments about a person's appearance or jokes of a sexual nature can constitute
harassment if they occur often and are unwelcome. You should make it a policy to stop all types of sexually
oriented comments in the workplace.
Is gender-based harassment the same as sexual harassment? There are forms of harassment that are gender-
based but are nonsexual in nature. Gender-based harassment is harassment that would not have occurred but for the
sex of the victim. It lacks sexually explicit content but is directed at one sex and motivated by animus against that sex,
whether female or male.
Example

A comment like "You're a woman, you can't handle this job" may amount to gender-based harassment even though it
does not carry a sexual connotation.

State laws prohibit sexual harassment. In addition to federal laws prohibiting discrimination and harassment, some
states have similar (and sometimes more far-reaching) laws. Check your state's law and remember that federal law is
controlling, unless the state's law offers more protection to the employees, in which case the state law is
controlling.
Once you understand harassment in theory, you need to figure out how to prevent it and how to deal with it if it does
happen.
Handling and Preventing Harassment
The best way to reduce your liability should harassment ever occur is to have policies and procedures in place that
show that you did everything you could to prevent harassment from occurring. As an added bonus, having a policy
against harassment will help you deal more effectively with any complaints you get from employees.
The following is a "top ten" list of the essentials for preventing and dealing with harassment:

 Establish an effective complaint procedure and encourage employees to feel comfortable coming to you with any
problems they face at work, including any harassment that might occur.
 Create and communicate your anti-harassment policy.
 Treat any incident as if it is a court case from the moment it is reported (most importantly, notify your attorney
right away).
 Quickly investigate any claims that might occur.
 Don't take any action that can be seen as harming the person making the complaint. For example, don't transfer
the complaining party to a worse location in order to separate the parties.
 Do whatever is necessary to stop the harassment immediately.
 Restore any job benefits that were lost due to the harassment.
 Discipline the person who committed the harassment. If disciplinary action of the harasser is not considered
appropriate, document the reasons why.
 Take action to correct past discrimination based on the harassing conduct, if appropriate.
 Painstakingly document the investigation and the steps you took to remedy the situation.

Establishing a Procedure for Harassment Complaints

Harassment complaints are a serious matter. Be sure to keep the following points in mind to appropriately address
the claim:

 Take every complaint seriously.

 Investigate every complaint.
 Try not to make credibility judgments based on the reputation of the person complaining or the person accused of
harassment. In a very small business where you know all the employees quite well, this is difficult to do. Do your
best to remain objective, until your investigation of the complaint is complete.
 Don't assume that the person making the complaint is being oversensitive.
 Don't leave it to the parties involved to work it out.
 Remember that not all employees will label unwelcome conduct as harassment. An employee might complain, for
example, about "unprofessional conduct" or "inappropriate behavior." Ask the employee to describe the conduct
more specifically.
Tools to Use
The Business Tools contain a set of detailed guidelines for use in investigating a harassment complaint.

Creating a Zero Tolerance Harassment Policy

An important part of preventing harassment claims and protecting your business is a written policy stating that
harassment will not be tolerated. Remember, too, that your state's law may require you to have a sexual harassment
policy. Any harassment policy should contain:

 a definition of harassment
 a harassment prohibition statement
 a description of your complaint procedure
 a description of disciplinary measures
 a statement of protection against retaliation
Tools to Use
The Business Tools contain a sample sexual harassment policy that you can use to create a policy for your
business.

Harassment defined. As with other complex policies, it is important to define exactly what type of conduct it is that is
unacceptable and prohibited. Being clear not only helps you enforce the policy, but helps employees understand what
your expectations are.
Here are a couple of simple examples of clauses that define harassment:
Sample 1: Harassment. Harassment is verbal or physical conduct that denigrates or shows hostility or aversion
toward an individual because of that person's race, skin color, religion, gender, national origin, age, or disability.
Harassment can also occur if conduct is directed toward a person's relatives, friends, or associates. Harassment
does one or more of the following:
 has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment
 has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work performance
 otherwise adversely affects an individual's employment opportunities
Sample 2: Harassment. Harassing conduct includes:
 epithets, slurs, negative stereotyping or threatening, intimidating, or hostile acts that relate to race, color, religion,
gender, national origin, age, or disability (including jokes or pranks that are hostile or demeaning with regard to
race, color, religion, gender national origin, age, or disability) and
 written or graphic material that denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward an individual or group because of
race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, or disability and that is displayed on walls, bulletin boards, or
other locations or circulated in the workplace.
Statement prohibiting harassment. While it seems obvious enough, your policy should clearly explain that
harassment of any kind is unacceptable behavior in your workplace. Here's an example of a clause that does just
that:
Sample: Sexual harassment is specifically prohibited because it is unlawful and against company policy. In addition,
ABC Company is responsible for taking action against sexual harassing conduct. ABC will take action regardless of
whether the specific acts complained of were sanctioned or specifically forbidden, and whether ABC Company knew
— or should have known — of their occurrence.
Complaint procedures. In addition to defining and prohibiting the behavior, be sure to tell employees how to make a
complaint and what they can expect once they have filed a complaint.
You may want to include the time frame in which the complaint will be investigated and stress that the matter will be
handled professionally and confidentially.
Some sample clauses are:
Sample 1: Employees who have complaints should report such conduct to the owner or other official. Allegations of
harassment will be promptly investigated, giving due regard to the need for confidentiality.
Sample 2: If you think you are being harassed, report the behavior to the owner. All such complaints will be treated in
the strictest confidence and will be promptly investigated.
Disciplinary measures. Be sure to spell out what the consequences for harassment will be if an employee is found
to have engaged in such contact. Also refer them to your progressive discipline policy, if you have one.
Here are some examples of a disciplinary clause:
Sample 1: Any employee who engages in harassing behavior is subject to disciplinary measures up to, and
including, termination.
Sample 2: Any harassing conduct will result in prompt and certain disciplinary action, including possible termination.
Protection against retaliation. When an employee actually gets the nerve up to report harassment, they are usually
already apprehensive and scared because of the hostile treatment they may have received. The employees need to
know that you are there to help. For this reason you may want to include a clause indicating that employees will not
be penalized or reprimanded for reporting harassment.
Not only will this help employees, but it may actually get them to report harassment before it gets worse or more
dangerous.
Here's a sample of such a clause:
Sample: An employee has the legal right at any time to raise the issue of sexual harassment without fear of reprisal.