Online gambling at work costs UK firms millions

Firms failing to enforce internet usage policies, according to new survey

UK businesses are wasting more than £300 million a year in lost productivity due to online gambling in the workplace, according to a new survey by IT consultancy Morse.

Nearly a third of the 664 workers questioned said they had placed a bet online during office hours or knew a colleague who had. More than a quarter also admitted to having no knowledge about their firm’s internet usage policy.

The study also found that 75 percent of male workers use gambling sites despite knowing it is against their employer’s acceptable use policy, highlighting that many firms do not enforce policies, according to Morse.

"Organisations are keen to put policies in place but rarely do they educate their employees about it, and [if they do] they don't reinforce this education, " argued Morse consultant Philip Wicks. "Many firms don't put technology controls in place to enforce those policies, such as URL filtering, which can either let people know they are contravening policy or block access to sites."