My boss has cracked down on internet use in the office and has asked me to be his “eyes and ears”. My colleagues often visit YouTube or Facebook. I’ve told them but they think it’s a joke. Meanwhile, my boss wants me to name names. Help!

Don’t you just love employers who think that being a PA really means being piggy-in the-middle? OK, you can’t blame the guy for wanting employees to work rather than e-mail each other YouTube links of burping kittens. And it’s true that flirting on Facebook isn’t in many job descriptions. But your boss has to get with it. What’s the problem with a little light internet-delving in the lunch hour? As long as no one is downloading the sort of images that would make your eyes melt, it’s what stands between staff morale and all-out strike. Of course, this would be solved if your boss communicated his wishes. Staff meetings, memos and policy announcements are not exactly new-fangled.

So, as most PAs find, it falls to you to restore order. Just organise yourself first. Snooping for the boss is going to give you all the popularity of a flu epidemic. Yet refusing to help your boss is akin to career suicide. And forget playing both sides. You’ll become a prize pariah.

Start by being forceful with colleagues. Make it clear that your boss is on the warpath and that, if they love a regular salary, they’ll play smart. Don’t get snooty. Act like you’re putting them ahead of the game. You need to keep their trust, not be the company creep.

Then, when your boss wants names, tell him that you’ve yet to catch anyone with their fingers on the mouse. Reassure the guy, though. Explain that his employees are reining in their internet-dabbling and persuade him to lighten up. Proffer the benefits of a balanced internet policy and offer to help to implement it — even suggest that the company has its own Facebook page for employees. After all, if you can’t beat ’em...

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