Identifying issues related to company email
Introduction Utilizing company email for personal use can become problematic if one does not comply with company policy. ... Company Policy for Personal Email Many companies set restrictions, or shall we say guidelines, for personal use of email to protect the company interest. ... General Guidelines The policy will state that personal email is permitted, providing it for occasional use only. ... is not permitted in order to avoid offence to any person(s) and/or legal issues. ... Monitoring All personal email entries are susceptible to monitoring from one’s employer. An employer can reserve the right to monitor email at any time; therefore an employee cannot consider email to be private. Although companies can view all email entries at anytime the policy may make mention that most monitoring only occurs if the employer feels there is reasonable cause to do so. ... Public Image Employees are expected to maintain a positive public image for the company. The company policy may include certain requirements or restrictions to enforce a positive public image. ... Another example, one’s company email address such as, employeename@company. ... Corrective / Disciplinary Actions The importance of corrective and disciplinary actions for employees, who are unwilling to adhere to the guidelines set forth for this purpose, is crucial to company profit and interests. ... Company Interests Companies are not required to allow employees to utilize company email for personal use. Nor can an employer trust that the employees are utilizing the email for company business only. ... This does not mean an employer is giving in to the employees because they are going to use email for personal use regardless of the policy. It means the employer is protecting the interests of the company. Discipline A website Email-policy.com, a websight dedicated to inform and guide companies and employees regarding email usage says “In most cases the employer is held responsible for all the information transmitted on or from their systems” (2002, p.