04-14-2011, 05:06 AM
Is monitoring of the e-mail by managers ethical (It is legal.) Support your answer. [ 3 marks]
Basically the answer is yes, IF your company has implemented a written email policy in which employees are warned that their emails can be monitored and that they should have no expectation of privacy. Not only will the existence of an email policy help you in a court of law, it will also educate your employees in the usage of email and may prevent many of the issues you were trying to stop by monitoring email. Make sure that the email policy is properly communicated to all staff and that any updates are circulated amongst all employees. It is preferable to have employees sign the email policy, including any additions to it, to prove that the employee has agreed to abide by the rules. Furthermore, email monitoring must be applied as uniformly as possible, since singling out an individual without a clear reason to do so could subject the company to discrimination claims.
Basically the answer is yes, IF your company has implemented a written email policy in which employees are warned that their emails can be monitored and that they should have no expectation of privacy. Not only will the existence of an email policy help you in a court of law, it will also educate your employees in the usage of email and may prevent many of the issues you were trying to stop by monitoring email. Make sure that the email policy is properly communicated to all staff and that any updates are circulated amongst all employees. It is preferable to have employees sign the email policy, including any additions to it, to prove that the employee has agreed to abide by the rules. Furthermore, email monitoring must be applied as uniformly as possible, since singling out an individual without a clear reason to do so could subject the company to discrimination claims.