my mail was opened by someone else at work advice needed

lilconchita73

I was informed by my deputy manager that a letter had been opened by someone at work. I am currently off work sick because I was injured at work it was due to a machine which should of been scrapped years ago.

The letter was from the Health & Safety Executive which was detailing my accident details etc. I asked who had opened the letter & my dep. manager said she didn't know.I know that more than likely the whole of my workplace have probably read it too.

I know it is illegal to open mail which isn't addressed to you so is there anything I can do about this,help & advice greatly appreciated,thx.

lilconchita73

i think i need this post moved just realised its in wrong section help needed again pls!

Pyewacket338

It could be said that the letter was opened by accident, and it was sent to your work and not your home which wouldn't help, I doubt there's anything you can do.

SomeBozo

I know it is illegal to open mail which isn't addressed to you so is there anything I can do about this,help & advice greatly appreciated,thx.

Its illegal to open someone elses mail if the intent is there to be malicous.

If the envelope is marked "Private & Confidential" then no-one should open it and it should be forwarded to your home address.

If it does not say the above, work are quite able to open it as it maybe about work and just because a employee is off sick, doesn't mean his/her mail will stop.

The opposite of it is, if they don't open your mail, when you get back there will be a huge pile of it and you will be complaining about it!

Bozo

dzug1

If it's addressed to you at work then it's a reasonable assumption it's work related, therefore fair game to be opened, certainly by whoever is doing your job or their manager.

Mikeyorks

Post #5 is spot on. Don't have mail addressed to your work address if it's personal.

During a spate of 'white powder' incidents I've made sure all mail - personal or otherwise - was opened in the Post Room. Keeps any problem centralised. One or two ostriches had a problem with it initially .... you just learn to ignore them. And it certainly reduced the amount of personal mail that had to be outsorted / couriered around a large building!

ukjoel

One of the places I used to work at until fairly recently all mail was sent directly to the managing directors secretary who was instructed to open it ALL.

If it was for you - you got it after it was opened and read, and even if it said private and confidential then she still opened it. She was in her 60s and it used to give her a huge power trip. One guy used to intercept the postman and she almost got him sacked when she spotted it.

She used to then hand round the open envelopes every afternoon.

We did get them back for it though.

Used to regularly send each other hard core !!!!!! which she used to have to open and distribute. Bearing in mind we always claimed we never had any idea who had sent it they couldnt do much.

dzug1

SomeBozo wrote: »

If the envelope is marked "Private & Confidential" then no-one should open it and it should be forwarded to your home address.

Even then it's arguable that it could be private and confidential to the person doing a particular job rather than the individual named on it.

bryanb

Can anyone substantiate the "It's illegal to open someone else's mail" statements that are often quoted? Where can I find the law?

geordie_joe

bryanb wrote: »

Can anyone substantiate the "It's illegal to open someone else's mail" statements that are often quoted? Where can I find the law?

I looked into it a few years ago, no proof to quote but I can assure you it is not illegal to open some one else's mail. Just ask at the post office, the law is clear, the mail belongs to the crown until it is delivered to the address on the envelope. After it has been delivered to the address there are no laws for it.

If you get a letter through your door addressed to someone else, say a previous occupant of your house, try taking it back to the post office or your local sorting office. They will not have the lightest interest in it.

On the other hand, you could, in theory get "done" if you open a letter not addressed to you. But only under fraud laws if they can prove you opened the letter with the intention of gaining an advantage over the true recipient. To do this they have to prove you knew what was in the letter before you opened it, and that you knew you could use it to your advantage, and that you intended to do so BEFORE you opened it.

The main thing to remember is the mail is protected by law until it is delivered to the address, not the person is it addressed to. If it was, the postman would ring your door bell and hand each member of you family their mail individually.

Trust me, the post office/Royal Mail only take the mail as far as the law requires them to, and that is to the door not the recipient.

Charis

geordie_joe wrote: »

If you get a letter through your door addressed to someone else, say a previous occupant of your house, try taking it back to the post office or your local sorting office. They will not have the lightest interest in it.

Not quite true: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-462606/Royal-Mail-set-sell-lost-post-items-Ebay--pocket-profits.html