According to research commissioned by IT consultancy firm Detica, 76 per cent of internet users spend up to 15 minutes a day clearing out adult material and spam from their inboxes.
"There is genuine worry among employees about being sacked for something they have not intentionally done," said David Porter, head of security and risk at Detica. "Obviously where there are real instances of employees intentionally downloading pornography there needs to be action. But innocent staff shouldn't be punished because spam levels are out of control."
Detica commissioned research firm MORI to interview 1,006 adults aged 16+ across the UK.
Earlier this year, 200 civil servants were disciplined for downloading pornographic images at the UK's Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).
