Law on internet and email at work

[meghatronic]

no

but i tried accessing yahoo at work and got page in bright red displaying "this computer is for business...blah blah." i quickly closed the page encase any colleagues saw.

I got that too at my old work... but a blue page.... so I just used the direct IP/mirrors instead. Naughty... but I did twice as much work as anyone else* so I was damned well entitled to check my e-mail.

*I'm not just saying that - when I left they hired two people to replace me

 

[the-void]

Employers do have the rights to monitor your emails. This is covered under the RIPA. (Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act)

Your employer is required/advised as a minimum to have the following

1. They need a policy that clearly indicates what you can and cannot do. This policy has to be explicit in what is allowed rather than use generalistions that could be open to interpretation.
2. They are required to conform to the data protection act if they monitor your emails (Interception, amongst other things)
3. They require your consent and you need to be made aware that your emails are monitored.

See Section 3 (Monitoring at work) of the employment practice guide.

(Opens PDF)
http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/docume...ecialist_guides/employment_practices_code.pdf

Also see pages 57 and 58 of the supplementary guide to check if they are following procedures correctly or are in breach of the Data Protection act by monitoring your emails.

(Opens PDF)
http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/docume...nt_practice_code_-_supplementary_guidance.pdf

Even if they have all the above, you could still take your case to the court of human rights as a breach of your basic human right to privacy. As was demonstrated in the recent case (April 07) where a claimant was awarded £3,000 for a breach in human rights because her employer was monitoring her emails, phone calls and web usage.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/05/monitoring_breached_human_rights/

At this point I would like to point out that if you have not worked for the company for at least 12 months then even if you win your case that they have broken the data protection act or some other law by monitoring your emails you will have no cause for redress if they sack you. That is, you will be unable to claim for unfair dismissal.

My general advice if you want to continue to have good worker relations with your employer is to ask your line manager on what is acceptable and what is not. I doubt an employer would mind you sending the odd email to a spouse or child as long as it had no impact in your productivity and you did so on your own time.

Despite all the safeguards above your emails may still be monitored and your employer in breach of the data protection act. Do you really want someone reading the ins and outs of your life. If the emails you are sending contain sensitive personal information then I would personally refrain from sending emails over a works network. Ever thought about sending a text instead?