What’s Your Company’s Email Policy?
Every company has their own email policy, and understanding the policies of your email provider is just as important as understanding your company’s email policy. There are many different types of emails the come with varying levels of detail about how to use that specific service, so it’s important to know what you should and shouldn’t do in both cases.
It's not just emails that can have a large impact on your relationship with an organization; text messages also have a huge potential for workplace repercussions. If you are routinely sending and receiving messages and emails, it is essential to check your company’s policies regarding phone use.
Communication should be a two-way street. It doesn't matter how well a company's email policy is written; if they're not willing to answer their employees' questions about their policies, or if they're not willing to explain what those policies mean or do, then the policy itself doesn't have much integrity. The same goes for policies regarding phone calls and text messaging. If an employee can't contact his or her boss when something needs to be said, the employee may believe that the organization's communication guidelines are completely unreasonable and unjustified. Employees may turn to texting their co-workers or calling their supervisors in justifiable situations, but when they can't get through to one person they may decide to turn to a coworker instead.
It is important for employees and employers to have a professional and positive work relationship. An employee's ability to effectively communicate with management can build or destroy that relationship. Employees who are confident that they can speak two-way will be more likely to promote open communication with their managers; on the other hand, employees who are not able to or feel uncomfortable contacting supervisors for clarification may find it difficult to trust the organization's overall assessment of its policies.
Keep in mind that your company's email policy is not the only email policy you need to understand. Each of the services you use to send or receive emails may have their own policies regarding password protection, attachments, and other related issues. It is up to you to do your own research and follow the guidelines set forth by your company and by each service provider individually.
When an employee uses social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, he may create a disturbance in his work environment when he posts messages regarding his work performance that could be misconstrued as negative comments or complaints. An employee's personal use of social networking sites may lead to an employer viewing that employee as unprofessional and unreliable, which could ultimately lead to unfair disciplinary action.
Companies have certain email protocols in place to ensure that a company’s information and resources are properly protected. Individual employees are not typically held responsible for the email policies of their companies, but they may be held responsible for using the company name on inappropriate social networking sites. In addition to a company’s policy against employees using social media inappropriately, many companies also have a policy against posting comments online while at work or while using a work computer.
Email policies are meant to protect the organization they belong to, but they can also present challenges for employees. If an employee is not sure of the email policy that his company has in place, he should do his own research and follow the guidelines set by the company. It is generally considered inappropriate for an employee to use a work computer or be on the Internet while at work; however, it depends upon whether or not the employee has a right to be off-site during his scheduled work breaks. If he does have that right, he may use certain social networking sites or even check out the Web. But if not, he should avoid looking up information about his current job or browsing websites related to his job function.
Employees who have ever been asked to perform work-related tasks on their personal phones, laptops or other devices during non-work hours should be aware of their company's policies regarding personal use during off hours. In some cases, employees will receive sick time or vacation pay for working at home, provided they follow the company's guidelines. An employee should check the company’s policy regarding the use of a personal phone or other device while at home; if there is no written policy in place, it may be reasonable to assume that employees are not allowed to do anything job related from their homes and that they must be working from the office instead.
If an employee is not allowed to work from his home but is still on the job during non-work hours, he should make every effort to ensure that he does not use his personal phone, device or computer for work-related functions. Even though the organization may allow employees to work from their homes, that doesn't mean that they are allowed to access company resources for whatever purpose they wish; employees should be aware of the rules and break them if they haven’t been clearly established.
Employees who have permission from their employer to use company resources and perform job functions at home may find it necessary to check their email at all times for jobs that their employers need completed. The employer may have a policy regarding email access that states when a computer must be on and what protocols must be followed to ensure that the computer is not used inappropriately. If an employee wants to receive messages from the employer while at home, he may want to put his email address on auto-responder email settings; for example, if an employee checks his email regularly and gets messages from several people, he should check his auto-responder settings each time he checks his email so that all of the emails are delivered by the automatic responder function.
If an employee is not allowed to work from home during non-work hours, he should make every effort to ensure that he does not use his personal phone, device or computer for work-related functions. Even though the organization may allow employees to work from their homes, that doesn’t mean that they are allowed to access company resources for whatever purpose they wish; employees should be aware of the rules and break them if they haven’t been clearly established.
Employees who have permission from their employer to use company resources and perform job functions at home may find it necessary to check their email at all times for jobs that their employers need completed.
Conclusion
If you want to trust the email policies of your organization, you will need to research your company’s email policies and keep them current; otherwise, it is possible for a judge or attorney to dismiss an employee's email lawsuit based on an outdated policy. If an employee believes that his employer is not following its established policies regarding email access, he should consult a legal professional who can help him understand the company’s policies and how those protocols have been established.
If you are unsure of the email policy in place, ask your supervisor or HR department about it; they should be able to clear up any confusion you might have about what is expected from employees.