Think you can get away with using email and the Internet in violation of company policy? Think again.

A new survey found that more than a quarter of employers have <A HREF="http://www.cio.com/article/190100/Over_of_Companies_Fire_Workers_for_E_Mail_Net_Abuse">fired workers for misusing email</A> and one third have fired workers for misusing the Internet on the job. The study, conducted by the American Management Association (AMA) and The ePolicy Institute, surveyed 304 U.S. companies of all sizes.

The vast majority of bosses who fired workers for Internet misuse, 84 percent, said the employee was accessing porn or other inappropriate content. While looking at inappropriate content is an obvious no-no on company time, simply surfing the Web led to a surprising number of firings. As many as 34 percent of managers in the study said they let go of workers for excessive personal use of the Internet, according to the survey.