Personal emails at work....

[fitzy's_eyes]

Today I got a talking to from my supervisor which I think is slightly unfair.
I work in a call centre and we have access to email both internally and externally.
A lot of people in the call centre forward those chain and joke emails around.
Today I got told I am being watched by our IT dpt because I have been a recipient on a lot of peoples bulk email lists for these type of emails. I don't think it is fair I am now under surveilance when i never forward them on and don't even like getting them mostly! It's not my fault people have sent them to me.
And it's not affecting my work ethic either.
Do you think this is fair I am now under scrutiny?
I send the odd personal email, but never when it affects my work. Like on breaks and such.

 

[supa-gal]

Why are you being watched when you're the recipient?

 

[MarksGirl-kbcrowgirl]

Originally posted by fitzy's_eyes
Today I got a talking to from my supervisor which I think is slightly unfair.
I work in a call centre and we have access to email both internally and externally.
A lot of people in the call centre forward those chain and joke emails around.
Today I got told I am being watched by our IT dpt because I have been a recipient on a lot of peoples bulk email lists for these type of emails. I don't think it is fair I am now under surveilance when i never forward them on and don't even like getting them mostly! It's not my fault people have sent them to me.
And it's not affecting my work ethic either.
Do you think this is fair I am now under scrutiny?
I send the odd personal email, but never when it affects my work. Like on breaks and such.

That sounds mighty unfair Alli! Your not sending them on, your receiving them I am not sure how you are supposed to stop it from happening

k
xx

 

[mandy]

Our email "policy" at work that was emailed to us that we needed to print out and sign contained statements such as "If I am seen to receive emails that are contrary to the policy of this company....blah, blah, blah....."

I put a line through all of that and initialed it. When questioned I said I refused to be held accountable for what I can't control. That's just ridiculous, and will only be used if they want to get rid of someone.

 

[Spidergirl~RiCkChiCk]

Our boss is gay therefore loves reading all our emails. THe other week we all organised to join the union because they are ripping us off so he called an urgent meeting even tho half of us were off at lunch and intimidated everyone not to join based on wot he read in our emails

 

[otaku]

Originally posted by Spidergirl~RiCkChiCk
Our boss is gay therefore loves reading all our emails.

with this sort of comment, i could almost believe that was an attempt at a troll

THe other week we all organised to join the union because they are ripping us off so he called an urgent meeting even tho half of us were off at lunch and intimidated everyone not to join based on wot he read in our emails

duh!
call the union anyway.

How can you be intimidated by a gay man anyway?

 

[Spidergirl~RiCkChiCk]

Originally posted by otaku
with this sort of comment, i could almost believe that was an attempt at a troll

nah serious he actually told us that lol "I come from an extremely gossipy community and believe me i can be a BITCH when i want to"

 

[Slax]

Originally posted by supa-gal
Why are you being watched when you're the recipient?

Most companies have a firewall in place to protect against attachments coming in with extrernal email. Although this may be automatic it does generate a report which is available to management showing who are the main receivers of such emails.

It is generally viewed by management that for every one stopped by the firewall for having an attachment 3 are allowed through.

 

[Phil Doyle]

Go the union rockin Spidergirl!

This is a big issue in 'white collar' workplaces and one of the organisations doing good work here is the IT Workers Alliance.

It's not a union as such - but it does work closely with unions and professionals that work in the field. I should also mention that it's part of one of my clients - EMC.

It is a good starting point to find out exactly where you stand with this sort of thing and where you can get help.

A big no-no under the Federal Privacy Legislation is Network Administrators and the like reading other people's email.

 

[Spidergirl~RiCkChiCk]

Originally posted by Phil Doyle
Go the union rockin Spidergirl!

This is a big issue in 'white collar' workplaces and one of the organisations doing good work here is the IT Workers Alliance.

It's not a union as such - but it does work closely with unions and professionals that work in the field. I should also mention that it's part of one of my clients - EMC.

It is a good starting point to find out exactly where you stand with this sort of thing and where you can get help.

I would like to go there now just to tell them that he intimidated us into not going. That in itself would get him in ****.

He has also lied about our rate of pay saying that it is in fact more than what half the people he knows in our industry get funny though the union has advised us that we are 2 dollars per hour below what is standard!

 

[Phil Doyle]

Give them heaps. Its our lives, and our privacy, even at work.Call centre operators have been showing a particular interest in treating their employees like Children. What is this? the 1880's?

 

[Asgardian]

Lots of email are fun, but in our "politically correct" world, it is just too dangerous to be seen to be supporting them.

If need be create message rules, that will censor and block undesirable emails.

If you want funny emails, get them at your home, leave office computers for work, and work alone.

 

[Docker_Brat]

Management and IT are usually pretty hot on personal emails, especially the spam type ones. Best option is to not give your work email details to too many people, especially ones who forward chain emails, they're a pain at the best of times and certainly not worth losing your job over.

I agree with Mandy though, you can't control what people send you. Best you can do once someone does it is to email them back asking not to send that kind of thing to your work email. At least you've then done the right thing and management wouldn't have a leg to stand on.

 

[TheMase]

Originally posted by Spidergirl~RiCkChiCk
Our boss is gay therefore loves reading all our emails. THe other week we all organised to join the union because they are ripping us off so he called an urgent meeting even tho half of us were off at lunch and intimidated everyone not to join based on wot he read in our emails

That is against the law.

 

[Frodo]

Originally posted by TheMase
That is against the law.

No it's not.

Emails and telephone calls may be monitored by a supervisor for training and legal purposes.

Email belongs to a company and is there for company use. I have a policy of issuing a written warning for anyone using company email for private purposes without permission. A second abuse means termination.
During breaks employees are able to use the web and their personal hotmail (web) accounts without problem. It is only the use of the company email that ends up generating endless SPAM.

 

[mandy]

Originally posted by Frodo
No it's not.

Yes it is.

Email usage can be monitored by the company, but it is illegal for anyone to actually open and read private emails without the knowlegde of the workers.

 

[Phil Doyle]

They're right Frodo. Federal Privacy Legislation over-rides any disclaimer a company may wish to put on its email policies.

Personal privacy at work is integral to understanding that work is something we sell to employers. It is not slavery and they don't own our private lives.

The Biometrics industry understands this, which is why they are putting in a lot of work to ensure their privacy policies enhance privacy rather than invade it.

Also, when accessing call centres (apart from Integraph) I always insist that the call not be monitored for training puirposes. I encourage all callers to do the same. It makes the operators life easier, your transaction with the operator more pleasant, and if enough people do it call centre managers will abandon this sweatshoplike approach to employees.

 

[Frodo]

Originally posted by mandy5
Yes it is.

Email usage can be monitored by the company, but it is illegal for anyone to actually open and read private emails without the knowlegde of the workers.

Well if it is then i'm breaking the law and shall continue to do so. And anyone who wants to take me to court wont be working for me very long.
But from my advice the fact that all personel have been told clearly that company emails may be opened and read by supervisors then I'm not breaking the law...not that it matters law or not.

 

[Frodo]

Originally posted by Phil Doyle


Personal privacy at work is integral to understanding that work is something we sell to employers. It is not slavery and they don't own our private lives.

Bullcrap. Work is something that results from a legal contract made between an employee and an employer. It is mutual and neither is the slave of the other. Working together as a team under clearly understood guidelines provides for a healthy relationship.

 

[Bomber Spirit]

Originally posted by Spidergirl~RiCkChiCk
Our boss is gay therefore loves reading all our emails.

My boss is straight, and he installed a firewall to stop too many personal emails getting through. I never give my work email out, so I don't get many emails.
An occasional personal email is OK at our work, but if it was happening all the time it would be a different story. And if anyone was getting pr0n or violence or extreme racist propaganda or something like that it would be grounds for dismissal; and that's fair enough.

 

[Spidergirl~RiCkChiCk]

Originally posted by Phil Doyle
They're right Frodo. Federal Privacy Legislation over-rides any disclaimer a company may wish to put on its email policies.

Personal privacy at work is integral to understanding that work is something we sell to employers. It is not slavery and they don't own our private lives.

The Biometrics industry understands this, which is why they are putting in a lot of work to ensure their privacy policies enhance privacy rather than invade it.

Also, when accessing call centres (apart from Integraph) I always insist that the c*** not be monitored for training puirposes. I encourage *** c***ers to do the same. It makes the operators life easier, your transaction with the operator more pleasant, and if enough people do it c*** centre managers will abandon this sweatshoplike approach to employees.

I actu***y think that if you are using works tools to do these things then they have every right to check up on what is occuring on their own systems. Commenting on what is said however is something different. By all means read my e-mails however i don't think they really have the right to comment on them (like i mentioned before threatening and intimidating us not to join the union BASED ON what was read in e-mails exchanged between agents)

As for c*** monitoring i actu***y prefer things to be recorded. We have a lot of cheats in our department and i am one of few who actu***y does the job properly and honestly. Unfortunately our department does not tape things but does do random monitoring. Stuff the operator if it makes it unpleasant for them they are paid to do a job. Last week i had the General Manager, Team leader and a handful of fairly big shot new clients from GE *** gathered around me listening in (this is in an enclosed area outside the CEO's office where only 2 of us work with reflective glass surrounding so you can see everybody behind you listening in) Frightening stuff maybe but that is my job and they have a right to listen in on me considering they are the ones paying me to do the job.

 

[mantis]

I was sent a hilarious email from a friend from a doggy forum today & burst into hysterical laughter when I saw the attached pic, my boss came out to see what I was laughing at & he immediately burst into laughter as well.

I am lucky, my boss doesn't mind me getting emails, or being on the net at work, as long as I do my work.

 

[Phil Doyle]

Like one warning and you're out the door?

I employ four people and I treat them as equals. We've never needed contracts, even though I've recommended them. Because we have an adult relationship I get the best work from a team of talented people, also fearless and frank advice thrown in for free.

People who need to throw their weight around shouldn't be in charge of people.

Sadly, in my day to day work, I come across plenty of sdmall business people that are out of their depth. Not only can't they face the truth about themsdelves, they often can't face the truth about their businesses.

Most industries muddle along after a fashion. It really is a minor miracle much gets done at all. That being the reality then there's no need to bully people with threats on top of that as well.

 

[myee8]

This whole thing with privacy in the workplace and the monitoring of emails by employers is to do with its legal implications. Consider telling a racist/sexist joke in a conversation. If someone hears it and gets offended, then you are in trouble. It is no different from emailing a racist/sexist joke around, only for one person to see and get offended by it. If this is the case, and employers are found to not have sufficient email policies, they could be liable as they are seen as promoting a hostile workplace environment. Other reasons include the prevention of the leaking of trade secrets from the R&D department, and loss of intellectual property.

The sexual harassment one is the worse IMO. It only takes one picture of a girl in a bikini and a woman who is offended to see it and complain for a male to get sacked. Watch the woman play the victim by claiming stress, mental fatigue, and any other riduculous reason to destroy the career of a male, in which on one will side with because of the 'victimised' female. It's just like how the female can sleep their way to the top and the male has to work his guts out. Guess who most gets the kids in a custody battle and when assets are being claimed?

For the employees, I would think that you would have to be aware of your company’s policy in regards to such communication. Such a policy should be integrated with the current communication like speaking and on the phone. Most employers make sure you are aware of what is in the policy, and this is often done with the employee signing something to indicate this. A possible option is that there can be input from the employee in regards to the development of any policies, but they have to be told of the consequences of any suggestions. Overall I feel there is a need for understanding by both sides as to why policies are needed.

 

[Phil Doyle]

I didn't realise it led to paranoia.

Do you have any case examples that illustrate your claims here myee8?