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Monitoring Employee Email
September 5, 2007
As a small business owner, who offers employees their own corporate email addresses, I feel it’s very important that I keep track of virtually all workplace communications. I wouldn’t want my employees to use the company’s e-mail system to send porn, chain letters, or company secrets, and I believe a written policy is the best way to let them know.
Before creating your company’s policy on email usage, consider the following:
- Privacy. According to the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act, employees have few privacy rights when it comes to e-mail when the computer system is the property of the employer. Still, privacy lawsuits are on the rise, and spelling out what kind of e-mails you will regard as private can reduce legal trouble. Consider contacting a lawyer for advice on compliance and privacy issues.
- Monitoring. Your policy should explain how monitoring is done and by whom.
- Etiquette. Employees need to understand that every time they hit the "send" button with corporate email, they are representing the company on all levels.
- Personal Usage. It’s not realistic to ban all personal e-mail at work, but many companies do put limits on it, restricting it to particular times or number of minutes per day. If your company allows use of personal email—I’d have all employees personal e-mailing be done not through the company system but via web-based services like hotmail, yahoo, or gmail.
- Signing. An e-mail policy should be incorporated into the employee handbook. Most experts agree it’s best to have employees sign a copy of the policy at the time they are hired.
Posted by Shanu Singh Guliani on September 5, 2007 | Comments (0)
