What Are Your Rights Regarding Email Privacy In The Workplace?

Is someone spying on your emails? Use an email account at work and they could well be. The laws protecting your email privacy at work are sticky: so get to know your rights, and make sure you maintain your dignity. Did you hear the one about the woman whose husband burned her tea? Best not…

Does the Law Protect My Privacy Regarding Emails At Work?

There are two main principles governing your email privacy in the workplace. There are laws protecting you, and laws protecting your employers.

On the one hand, you're in the workplace. You're on someone else's time and money. The law thus allows employers staff monitoring; and they can do this for all kinds of reasons - some of which can, unfortunately, be used to veil ulterior motives. Nevertheless, the person paying your wages is entitled to fire you for email misuse, and - more importantly - they can monitor your email usage to find out whether you're guilty of it.

On the other hand, the Human Rights laws state that everyone is entitled to respect for their private and family life. This translates into a reasonable amount of personal correspondence. You can write letters and receive telephone calls from family and friends, using discretion to decide when it's necessary or important. This right now covers emailing, too. After all, how else do you maintain a social life when you're at work 9-5?

In April 2007 an employee at a Welsh College won a case against her employer, who had been monitoring her emails. She claimed they were intruding on her privacy; they claimed they were trying to find out whether she was misusing work hours. She won because the employer was shown to be infringing her right to a privacy.

But don't presume the courts will rule in your favour: in 2006 a survey of UK businesses showed that a third had fired an employee in the last 12 months for email misuse. Stop to think before you forward that cheeky Christmas e-card: otherwise you could be one of the next ex-employees.

How Email Monitoring Works

It takes one piece of software to work behind the scenes on your PC or company network. It could be busy taking screen snapshots, capturing personal passwords, storing sent and received emails, and blocking banned websites. And the very worst thing about this software is that it can be installed and run without your knowledge - it's virtually undetectable. Of course, it's a very sneaky way of monitoring staff in the workplace, and your employer is obliged to tell you what they are using, so play safe - and ask.

How can I Protect my Email Privacy In The Workplace?

If you're worried about your email privacy in the workplace, consider the following actions:

1. Ask your employer to clarify their privacy policy: are your emails monitored when you're at work, when you're absent, if at all? Your employer should provide a clear policy setting out the nature of any monitoring of staff and (most importantly) exactly what is seen as a breach. For instance, most employers allow a certain amount of internet or email use provided it doesn't interfere with work; some have a simple 'no obscene site' ban.

2. Ask your employer to create a 'personal email' template, with a simple header identifying personal content. This way, you and other employees can write emails using this template, and your employer is obliged to discard them if they do need to monitor staff or check your emails (perhaps when you go on holiday).

3. Keep work confined to work, and use a personal email address. If your employer's policy allows staff to indulge in a small amount of personal internet usage, then you can legitimately send and receive email. But set up a personal email address with one of the free suppliers, and your employer won't be able to track your emails so easily. Unless they use one of the invasive monitoring software programmes (which can take screenshots and save passwords), they won't be able to read anything you send. Phew!