Preventing e-mail abuse at work

Jan Truter warns that employers who do not have such policies or do not enforce them are at risk of being held liable by employees and also third parties that seek to hold the employer vicariously liable for his/her employees’ acts or omissions. In a Labourwise article, Truter suggests that the best approach for an employer is to carefully consider the organisation’s need to protect its interest, establish rules that are designed to protect those interests and introduce measures that differentiate between business and private use of electronic communications. In cases where the employer allows employees to make use of private e-mail addresses, it should be subject to certain clear conditions to prevent abuse. Policies pertaining to electronic communications should be determined by balancing the interests of the employer with the rights and needs of the employees and need to be relevant to the particular circumstances of the business. Full article on the Labourwise site