Employer reading emails without consent.

Smithcom

born_again said:

Treat WFH, just the same as being in the office & you have no problems. Start taking the micky & they will catch you one way or another.
We have to have open chats going, as well as systems that time out if not used (so no sneaking of to take kids to school or walk the dog) But they are quite happy with a quick Someone at door with delivery message.

Big brother watches you in the office, just the same as at home. Only a manager can't sit talking to someone else, while really watching over your shoulder to see if you are working.

But why would you send personal emails via work server, or even worse emails slating work policies like some do.. Just plain stupid 😶‍🌫️

Wise words.  Quite agree.   

There's been some very strange comments on this thread about employers monitoring staff being equivalent to the Victorian work houses and cotton fields.  Who knew!

Ultimately, some staff will work diligently unsupervised, others less so.   The employer needs to ensure that staff are working as expected/required, and this may well involve a degree of monitoring.

SC

Grumpy_chap

born_again said:

But why would you send personal emails via work server, 

The OP was not sending personal e-mails via work, but concerned that their work was being remotely monitored.

Bradden

Grumpy_chap said:

born_again said:

But why would you send personal emails via work server, 

The OP was not sending personal e-mails via work, but concerned that their work was being remotely monitored.

Without a written policy which it seems is a requirement legally.

Smithcom

According to some of the posters on this thread, it has come as a surprise that employers are monitoring levels of work when employees are working from home.   Apparently, such monitoring of work levels makes the employer akin to a Victorian work house or cotton field operator.   

There is certainly a difference of opinion with regards to work ethic for WFH employees, and there are a few very strange comments which suggest that employers are either not entitled to monitor work-levels, or should not be monitoring work levels.

Ultimately, the employer will decide if the employee (who is the subject of this thread) has been working appropriately or not.

Any conscientious employee should not have a problem with their output being appropriately monitored.   This will ensure that the work is being shared suitably with the team.    It's not easy to do this for WFH employees, so I can see maybe why monitoring seems more overt, but ultimately, it needs done.

SC

Grumpy_chap

Bradden said:

Grumpy_chap said:

born_again said:

But why would you send personal emails via work server, 

The OP was not sending personal e-mails via work, but concerned that their work was being remotely monitored.

Without a written policy which it seems is a requirement legally.

Where is that law please?
Employer's always monitor work outputs, always have and always will.  Only the slacker needs to be concerned.

Bradden

Grumpy_chap said:

Bradden said:

Grumpy_chap said:

born_again said:

But why would you send personal emails via work server, 

The OP was not sending personal e-mails via work, but concerned that their work was being remotely monitored.

Without a written policy which it seems is a requirement legally.

Where is that law please?
Employer's always monitor work outputs, always have and always will.  Only the slacker needs to be concerned.

It's a GDPR requirement I beleive...

https://www.gov.uk/data-protection-your-business/monitoring-staff-at-work

 https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{"itemid":["001-177082"]}

Grumpy_chap

Bradden said:

Grumpy_chap said:

Bradden said:

Grumpy_chap said:

born_again said:

But why would you send personal emails via work server, 

The OP was not sending personal e-mails via work, but concerned that their work was being remotely monitored.

Without a written policy which it seems is a requirement legally.

Where is that law please?
Employer's always monitor work outputs, always have and always will.  Only the slacker needs to be concerned.

It's a GDPR requirement I beleive...

https://www.gov.uk/data-protection-your-business/monitoring-staff-at-work

 https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{"itemid":["001-177082"]}

Thanks.

I suspect there is a catch-all statement somewhere in the employment handbook or similar.

Smithcom

I think that the starting place should be - To what extent has the employee been (allegedly) slacking.   1 personal email a day or 100?     Has their behaviour been reasonable?  

There is surely an implied contractual term between any employer and employee that the employee will spend much of their working day, well...working

Therefore, regardless of the presence or absence of a clause to confirm that the employer can monitor activity on the work computer (which I agree may amount to a Data Protection breach), I would imagine that there still may be grounds for disciplinary action if the implied contractual term has been broken.

SC

Bobbobbobingalong

Smithcom said:

I think that the starting place should be - To what extent has the employee been (allegedly) slacking.   1 personal email a day or 100?     Has their behaviour been reasonable?  

There is surely an implied contractual term between any employer and employee that the employee will spend much of their working day, well...working

Therefore, regardless of the presence or absence of a clause to confirm that the employer can monitor activity on the work computer (which I agree may amount to a Data Protection breach), I would imagine that there still may be grounds for disciplinary action if the implied contractual term has been broken.

SC

I'd hazard a guess that it is more than an implied term!

prowla

happyc84 said:

OrbitHeadache said:

Not read all this thread so sorry of this has been covered...

Why would anyone use work email address for personal use? Only thing I can think of is getting leverage by using work email address domain so for example ( joebloggs@gov.uk) Emailing in such a capacity for personal use might give you more perceived gravitas when making a complaint to your energy provider, internet provider etc.

However that will also more than likely get you the sack, so again why use work email for personal use? It's not like you need to spend money to get a personal email address 

sorry my post was about a company reviewing the work that was done on the company laptop, then saying that the person was not productive enough, nothing about using company email.
As I said there was no written policy about the employer reviewing work on laptop without consent.

If you go on to amazon you can buy a mouse (mice) that can show you as being active all the time. cue jokes about mice on a wheel.

Erm, the thread title is:

Employer reading emails without consent.