Manager allowed to snoop emails without audit permission?

Question

Hello

A colleague of mine was dismissed recently for reasons relating to personal emails sent. No regardless of what the content of the email was (nothing illegal or about any other person) could you tell me the procedure for a manager accessing thier employees email. Now we work in IT so the managers logins automatically have access to staff members email mailboxes. Surely they would have to file a grievance with Internal Audit before accessing the employees mailbox?

Thanks

Answer 1

An employer has an absolute right to access all emails sent either through a company email account, or through a personal email account accessed from a company owned computer, or even a personal computer connected to the companies internet connection.

The employer may have 'internal' policies about how it should be done - but that is a disciplinary issue between the employer and the employee who allegedly violated the procedure - it does not affect the validity of the firing.

Richard

Answer 2

It's the employer's computer so they can check emails if they want to.  Business emails are to be done at business and personal ones should be done from home, simple as that.  Your colleague really shouldn't have any expectation of privacy when at work when using company equipment.

Answer 3

I don't know if there is any contradicting company policy but legally, no permission is needed.  If you don't want the boss reading it, don't send it on their machine.

fs

Answer 4

Absolutely not - they can access anything you do from your work computer whenever they want. No reason. They might just want to see how you're using your time. When you use their computers on their time, it is their business.

Answer 5

Your company has a written policy that controls use of company computers.  It may be part of your employee handbook, which you had to read and sign off when you were hired, or it may be a separate policy that you were given, and had to read and sign off.

Any computer owned by a corporation can be monitored at any time, with no notice whatsoever, by the corporation.  Period.  Everything that exists on that computer is the property of the employer.  

The only time a grievance has to be filed (at least in the US) is if you work under a union contract.  And even then, the union can't change the fact that your friend was violating company policy.  

There have been multiple lawsuits already here in the US, from employees claiming wrongful dismissal or invasion of privacy.  The courts here have consistently ruled in favor of the employER.  The computers belong to the employer.  An employee who uses the equipment has no expectation of privacy because everything on that computer belongs to the employer.

Answer 6

A lot of major companies keep close watch over anything done on the computers while at work.  Sorry, the employees are there to work, not for personal emails, or personal time on the computers.

Answer 7

As long as it is outlined in the company policy that internet use is monitored there isn't a legal problem with it.  Even if it isn't in the company policy property laws would likely protect the manager in question.

Answer 8

It is a invasion of privacy for somebody to access another persons email without their permission. I would sue the manager.

Answer 9

Companies in the US are free to peruse the emails of any employee which is sent to the company's servers...as in [e-mail]

That's why smart employees have personal Yahoo! or other outside mailboxes. Those are private.