Getting PersonalProtect your company against unnecessary lawsuits by monitoring employee e-mail.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
When you provide employees with e-mail, you facilitate more thanproductivity, camaraderie and efficient communication. You alsoprovide them with an easy way to disparage or harass theircoworkers, disseminate tasteless humor, and reveal company secretsto your competitors. E-mail messages have become a gold mine ofevidence in lawsuits over charges such as sexual harassment becausedeleted messages can often be recovered.
Given the risk, you need to be aware of the types of messagesthat are floating around on your e-mail system. Employees oftenbelieve their messages are as private as personal letters sentthrough the U.S. mail. Indeed, some employees have sued theiremployers for reading their e-mail, claiming a violation ofprivacy. While courts so far have sided with the employers,it's best to remind employees routinely that their e-mailmessages are subject to company scrutiny.
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