All workplaces would benefit from a clear understanding of the degree of privacy which employees can expect at work in relation to issues like personal mail, email, desk and locker searches.

There is no automatic legal right to privacy for personal mail delivered to a work address. Many employers reserve the right to open and inspect all mail received at work, to properly receipt cheques and remittances, as a precaution against fraud or to limit employees running their own businesses during work time.

At the same time many businesses and public agencies ask employees to provide a work address or phone number and it is not unusual for them to contact people at work. Most employers allow employees to receive private mail and phone calls as long as they do not interfere with their work.

Some people complain that letters addressed to them at work and marked personal or confidential have been opened. It is recommended that when an employer who has a policy of opening all mail receives letters marked personal or confidential, they are opened in the presence of the addressee or by the addressee in the presence of the person responsible for receipting mail. This allows the employer to be satisfied that it is genuine personal mail and gives the addressee some assurance that it is not being read or copied.

Even where confidentially addressed mail is opened and read by another person, it does not necessarily lose its status as confidential. You could have a basis for a complaint or , in extreme cases, possible legal action if the letter is copied or the information contained in the letter is used inappropriately.

A debt collecting agency which deliberately contacts you at work and discloses their reasons for calling to other employees or your employer may be breaching licensing legislation.

Electronic Mail

Unlike items of personal property that you keep in a desk drawer or locker, electronic messages you send or receive at work are not legally considered to be your personal property. Therefore an employer who owns the server or personal computer on which your email is stored is entitled to look at or copy it. Many employers reserve the right to check e-mail as a precaution against fraud, workplace harassment or breaches of confidence by employees.

However employees also have legitimate expectations of privacy in relation to their e-mail communications. A failure to acknowledge these expectations can affect the overall usefulness of providing e-mail facilities. It is strongly recommended that employers adopt clear policy statements on what rights employees can and cannot expect in relation to their electronic messages which reflect the specific needs of their organisations. All employees should be made aware of the policy.

Policies should cover:

• the requirements for storing e-mail where it relates to core business of the firm;
• whether back-up copies are stored on the server and who has access to them;
• the level of privacy employees can generally expect for their e-mail;
• the circumstances in which management reserves a right to read and take action on employee email;
• the fact that e-mail can be subject to production in litigation or other investigations;
• that it is unacceptable to use e-mail to abuse or harass other employees.