Blogging on the job has become a national pastime, but for one Houston-based NASA worker, it was the ticket to a 180-day suspension.

While most companies might look at blogging on the job as a productivity-wasting activity, Federal agencies have other worries. If the blogging is political, it could be a violation of the Hatch Act, which is aimed at keeping government agencies from influencing elections.

Apparently, the NASA employee hadn’t read the law. He blogged, sent e-mail and solicited contributions for candidates on the job using his work e-mail and computer.

“There was time when the Hatch Act was about wearing campaign buttons in the office, or engaging in political activity while on duty, wearing an official uniform, or in a government vehicle,” said Special Counsel Scott Bloch. “Today, modern office technology multiplies the opportunities for employees to abuse their positions and, as in this serious case, to be penalized, even removed from their job, with just a few clicks of a mouse.”

No details about the political affiliation of the suspended employee were released in the Special Counsel’s announcement of the incident, which you can read here.

Tags: blogging, computer, e-mail, Federal, Hatch Act