Cybersex During Working Hours

Sometimes it becomes apparent that a new employee falls short of expectations. However, if a long-standing employee who has previously worked reliably shows a significant decline in performance, it is important to determine the cause of this sudden or gradual drop. Reduced performance may be due to health issues, unauthorised secondary employment, deliberate sabotage, and much more. Identifying the underlying reason is the task of our competent corporate detectives in Hamburg: +49 40 4223 6960.

In addition to the classic, well-known causes, a newer phenomenon has emerged since the early 2000s that can significantly reduce work performance: unrestricted internet access in the workplace. Almost everyone knows how easy it is to waste time browsing online. When this happens in a private setting, one may be annoyed afterwards, but at least no third party is harmed from a legal standpoint. In the workplace, however, it constitutes misuse when employees use the internet for personal interests instead of performing their duties. In fact, these personal interests are more often than one might think of a sexual nature: chats, dating platforms where messages are checked, websites with pornographic content, social networks—and cybersex in written or even visual form via video chats such as Skype. Through covert contact approaches and, above all, IT-forensic examinations of work computers for misuse, Aaden Detective Agency Hamburg investigates suspicious employees where there is justified suspicion.

Sex in the Workplace in the 21st Century

Many companies now place their employees in open-plan offices, as this both improves communication flow and allows for better supervision. Frequent leaving of office spaces can thus be prevented, and unauthorised breaks are quickly noticed. In other companies, however, individual offices are preferred in order to enable focused, uninterrupted, and low-noise work. Yet it is precisely these setups that carry the risk that employees may not adequately perform their duties.

Since the internet has become standard even in the smallest office, employees tend to spend working hours browsing the World Wide Web—booking holidays, posting in forums, checking sports results, and so on. In recent years, a new variation has emerged: cybersex. Some websites now even offer an “office mode,” allowing users to switch instantly to a harmless, conventional layout at the press of a key. For employers, it is extremely difficult to prove both the lack of performance and the—often prohibited—misuse of company computers. If you suspect that one of your employees is spending more time on online erotic content than on accounting and balance sheets, contact the IT specialists at Aaden Corporate Investigations Hamburg. We will be happy to advise you and show you ways to document internet usage and obtain court-admissible evidence of misuse: info@aaden-detektive-hamburg.de.