Only a fraction of IT departments consult with human resources (HR) before installing monitoring software, according to a new survey, greatly increasing the risk of their firms breaking the law.

In a survey of IT and HR managers commissioned by monitoring tools vendor SurfControl, only 15 percent of IT managers said they ever consulted with HR staff before making decisions to install internet and email monitoring software.

But the poor communication ran both ways. More than nine out of 10 HR managers thought IT teams had the final say on whether such systems should be put in place, and less than half were aware of any legal responsibility to protect staff from harassment via internet and email. Only one in 10 felt that the burden was on both employer and staff to use online resources responsibly.

Lisa Harris, solicitor at law firm Morgan Cole, said it is essential for HR and IT teams to communicate. "There is a responsibility on employers, both under discrimination legislation and generally, to provide a safe working environment in an atmosphere free of harassment," she said. "HR need to know what's going on as they are going to be the ones to invoke any discipline procedure."

In some cases firms may be breaking the law if they are not taking steps to stop email harassment or employees accessing illegal web sites from work, Harris added.

Martino Corbelli, marketing director of SurfControl, said, "Any IT department shouldn't be expected to cover all the bases. IT shouldn't have to be seen as the internet police and shouldn't be writing policy themselves, that should be spearheaded by HR. Avoiding miscommunication is vital."

In a separate survey released by compliance and security software firm PolicyMatter, 84 percent of IT managers said that office systems were misused constantly, often or sometimes. Over half of the people who misused systems either did not think that they would cause any harm or did not care.