Company's and email...

[RhinoZ]

Something big happened at work today.
A fellow worker was slapped on the wrist today for using his work email MORE for personnal emails. I don't know the extent of misuse. If it was the amount of time spent sending jokes, or bandwidth issues with those movie files, etc etc.
But we were caught of guard by this.
So what do you say.
Should work email only be used for work?
Should companys be allowed to read work email contents?
Or are we just a bunch of crybabies, and be happy that we got a job?

[Jammrock]

I think if the personal use is minimal then it should be okay. If you're running a spam op, forwarding jokes to a hundred people, sending pics & movies, pr0n etc ... then I think it would cause problems. Not just because of bandwith usage, but because the potential of non-ethical materials and (more importantly) virus/trojan payloads sneaking through are high. Some companies don't even allow attachments from outside the corporation.

Jammrock

[UtwigMU]

My policy was to have Yahoo or similar webmail for private mail and use work mail only for work.

I also deleted any jokes/funny big attachments from work mail.

The thing is, people who forward shit arround get their mail adress in lot's of forwarded mails that wind up in various mail boxes.

Such users are also not generally good at security. So, once one of them gets a virus that scans his mail folders for email adresses in all messages, you start getting virii, pensu enlargement, university diploma and viagra spam and Nigerian scams.


Otherwise, IMO the people at work shouldn't be policed/recorded on cameras, their mail read.

I think work should be based on trust and when you're employed you get tasks that you're supposed to do.

In my opninion the completion of the required tasks and exceeding them is what matters and employees should be judged on that.




I think another thing is here majority of people access net from work because they are to stingy to sign for broadband (despite 1024/256 costing 40$, 30$ if you or your kids are students) and use dialup at home only for urgent cases.

So they use web access at work for sending funny stuff arround, looking for products, vacations...

[High_Jumbllama]

In my opinion, you are using work property that you are allowed to use for work, then the company has a right to listen. This is not to say that companies should go through every bit and byte getting every juicy detail.

One person decided it was OK to download hundreds of megs worth of, shall we say, objectionable pictures through the web and email. I noticed this when I realized his backup was 550 MB big when he had just been there for three months. This was not even close to anyone else who had been there longer. Heck, my backup is way smaller than that. Yes, the compnay has a right to monitor equipment that employees could use to make the employer liable for something. This goes for phone conversations as well at least up until you realize that it is a personal call which according to some laws means you have to stop listening.

Just use personal email for personal email and work email for work email.

[Brian Ellis]

Using a work computer for ANY non-work-related purpose (unless specifically authorised by your hierarchical superior(s)) is tantamount to theft or resources and employment time. I know one large organisation that forbids it during working hours but actively encourages private use during coffee/lunch breaks/outside working hours (except for immoral purposes). Anyone caught doing it inside working hours is immediately dismissed. This rule is applied severely but does not restrict the employee's liberty. If he wants to download a 300 Mb software for his own use, he can stay over and do so after 17.30 h and then transfer it to a CD, so that it does not stay on a server. That seems eminently fair.

After all, if you are a garage mechanic, would you be allowed to build yourself a new car during working hours, using company parts?

[az]

I completely agree with Utwig.

Brian, your analogy is lacking. If I weere a garage mechanic who always finished the toughest jobs ahead of schedule, and the parts cost next to nothing (auto parts may not cost next to nothing, but internet access does), couldn't you allow me to build something for myself during part of the time that I saved by being ahead of schedule?

I think sending private stuff from company email is problematic, because everything you send falls back on your employer, but using a private email account from work is OK, as long as work doesn't suffer.

AZ

[Dilitante1]

at DT we allowed IM/email on yahoo etc during lunch hour only and it was not abused for the most part. In the year i was there only 2 peeps were caught breaking the rule....a supervisor asked me to track IM usage on one person and she was using it all day and played stupid til caught, the other one was pulling pics/pr0n down and sending in house to female coworkers...that stopped quickly and we had to warn him to stop it from home as it was harrassment.

But as policy, most dont allow it, from other places i have been through and enforce only when blatently offensive.

You ARE on thier dime and/or thier equipment, either way.

[Brian Ellis]

If the mechanic has finished all the work for the day, there is always cleaning up to be done in a garage, pumping the used oil into the tank, removing swarf from the lathe, putting fresh solvent in the cleaner, cleaning the windows (have you ever seen a workshop with clean windows?), filing the update sheets in the manuals, checking inventory of spares, sorting the different metals for recycling and 101 other jobs in a garage that never seem to get done. So, no, I'm a hard taskmaster. No private work in my time, unless he takes a corresponding drop in wages at the end of the month. Tough!

[GNEP]

Here there is a general "no abuse" policy, and our machines (unless you have developer rights) are locked down so that no extra software can be installed. This essentially kills any IM type activity - and anyway most of the ports are blocked.

Personal emails and web surfing are pretty much tolerated unless ridiculous - the attitude in general being that as long as people get their work done things can be pretty flexible. This extends to phone use as well. It might vary a bit by line manager, but really I haven't heard of any abuse and certainly no managers limiting anyone. Seems quite sensible to me - we are here to get a job done, and whatever flexibility makes us most comfortable is a good things in that we are less likely to leave early/skip days/refuse to work weekends when things are busy etc. And happy workers are productive workers of course

[az]

Exactly, GNEP.

See Brian, I told you your analogy was not a good one. What is a programmer to do while he waits for his compile to finish? Clean the office? (Assuming it's a large firm who has cleaners anyway)

AZ

[High_Jumbllama]

Same as GNEP if there was an actual policy. The Loan Officers are allowed to do whatever as long as they are making their calls during peak hours and putting enough good loans through though I did have to block a few day trading sites and Yahoo Games.

Everyone else can and does occasionally go to Launch.com and maybe some email but since they are out in the open they cannot get away with too much for long.

[Fat Tone]

All our PCs are locked down, expect for admins, so no IMs etc. Web browsing is unmonitored except when there are complaints.
Academics simply *do not* work office hours...some start at 8 am, other 1pm, all work at home, at night, during weekends at home/work. They get the job done, the system doesn't interfere.

[The PIT]

The Company doesn't have a right to read your emails but you shouldn't use your work email for fun and games if it says so in the companies regs

However it makes a happier work place if the company doesn't take the big brother attitude. Sometimes you can get good tips from friends via emails forums etc too help sort out a problem.
Of course you get dipsticks that take the piss which leads to a problem how you define accepable use.

[High_Jumbllama]

@The Pit

If it is a work email account then how can it be your email? Or do you mean your email as in personal email account?

[Wombat]

Originally posted by The PIT
The Company doesn't have a right to read your emails but you shouldn't use your work email for fun and games if it says so in the companies regs

In the US, they do have that right. I don't know if it's different in other countries.