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Business Tip of the Month

Business Tip
of the Month
For the month of February 2005

Employee e-mail: Every business should understand the risks

It’s hard to believe that 15 years ago e-mail was virtually unknown. Nowadays it’s an essential business tool. Most office workers use e-mail daily to communicate with co-workers, customers, and suppliers. It’s fast, informal, and so much better than playing “telephone tag.”

Unfortunately, e-mail has its risks too. In a recent survey, over 20% of firms reported receiving subpoenas to hand over e-mails or instant messages in legal or regulatory investigations. Internal e-mails have featured prominently in fraud, discrimination, and harassment cases. And we’ve all heard horror stories about inappropriate e-mails sent by mistake to a customer or a boss.

Problems arise because employees think of e-mail as more like a telephone conversation than a letter. They’ll say things on the telephone that they would never put in writing, and they treat e-mail in the same way. But sending an e-mail is like writing a letter. Hitting the delete button doesn’t fully erase a message. And with computer backup systems, a record of e-mails can be around for months or years.

  How to protect your business

You can take steps to protect yourself from e-mail problems. First, establish and enforce clear policies on employee e-mail use. These should prohibit messages that are obscene, discriminatory, harassing, or inappropriate. Be clear on what personal use is allowable, if any. Emphasize that e-mail is provided as a business tool and that messages may be monitored by management. These policies should be part of your employee policy manual. Also consider having employees sign a specific acknowledgement of the rules when they receive their password.

Merely setting policies is not enough. You must monitor and enforce the rules. Periodically retrain employees and emphasize that sending an e-mail is like writing a letter on company letterhead. If appropriate for your business, consider using software to monitor usage or to block certain types of message.

Finally, review your record retention policies. Make sure e-mail records are purged after a reasonable time. Check to see if there is a required retention period if you are in a regulated industry, though.

Paying attention to e-mail usage in your business now may save problems later.

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