Email

[Ric.ror]

I have just caught my line manager reading my email - that cannot be right can it?

[Ethel]

Is it your employers computer?

[another-view]

Check your works policy.

I work in IT and we would only read someone's email if we thought they were up to something but we would ask them to show us first.

If they refused then we would look in anyway.

[Ric.ror]

Yes - but not my line managers

[rachael88]

no its not you should say to him/her should you be doing that what are you looking for can i help

[another-view]

Bear in mind, if it is personal email and you are using the works computer then you can't really complain. The email system is there as a business tool not for people to chat to their mates.

[Ric.ror]

I work for a LA and we are encouraged to use email even for personal use within limits - I think they think it is cheaper than the phone

[Ethel]

How did he get your password?

[Ric.ror]

I was only at the loo

[Ric.ror]

oh and he is a she

[Ethel]

Can My Boss Read My Mail?

SUMMARY: Be careful what you write in e-mail from your office.

The short answer is yes if you are using your company's electronic mail server.

Many companies now have acceptable use standards for email. These tend to include lines such as "The Company has the right to read any electronic mail passed through the system." This does not necessarily mean that your boss is personally going to snoop and look at every message sent, but it means they have the right to do so. Most of the time, mail is scanned to ensure harassing or harmful material is not passed through the system, viruses don't get sent, pyramid schemes are not started at work, etc., but there are other reasons mail may be read.

Just because you delete a message on your system does not mean it is gone forever! Backups of email messages can and sometimes are automatically made on the server level for legal reasons.

So, play it safe. Don't send any mail at work you wouldn't want others to see.

[Ric.ror]

i have to say I think it is a pretty low thing to do though - on moral grounds

[Ethel]

And here:

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content /oct2006/tc20061025_457356.htm?sub=techmaven

[another-view]

Quite correct. We make backups of all emails in and out of the building and have restored them from backups as evidence after people had deleted them and assumed they had gone.

[Ethel]

Don't use the company equipment for personal use - ever.

All the websites you visit are logged; your phone calls may be recorded; instant messages logged.

The employer is perfectly entitled to do this.

[another-view]

More than one person at our establishment has been dismissed due to too much personal email and internet usage.

[dzug]

It's not your e-mail. It's the company's e-mail. Your manager has the right and in some circumstances even the duty to read it.

So unless it was a private lap top that you happened to bring to work with you it's entirely right. Some establishments would assert rights even over that. (I'm thinking of high security places concerned about industrial espionage)

[Ethel]

Yes, dzug's right as the privately owned laptop would still go through the employer's router (unless you had your own dongle)

[ladyalex]

Although I am sure that all the people above who have replied about the legalities of whose e-mail it is etc will be right, I think it is a pretty low thing to do. (And pretty stupid to get caught doing). Is there not some right of privacy ? How would it stand if a manager rifled through someone's filing cabinet or read through their diary ? I think it might be a bit iffy.
Pretty gutless too. If she felt there was something she wanted to check up on, she should have been upfront about it and told you she was going to read your e-mails and why.

[Ric.ror]

Ladyalex - I could not agree with you more