What are the chances that you can ever erase an e-mail? No chance, says Attorney Matthew Effland.  When you send e-mail, it’s saved in many places, most of which you can't access.

For example, Effland says, your e-mail is likely stored in:

  • Your computer’s cache and e-mail outbox,
  • Your e-mail service provider's computers and/or corporate e-mail server
  • Your supervisor’s backups
  • Your corporate mainframe
  • Your various backup drives
  • Your employer's backup systems

Then multiply that by two—your recipient’s company is probably saving your e-mail in all the same places. And then add to that everyone you copied. Think there's any chance of erasing all those copies? The best assumption is that e-mail is never erased, says Effland.

Effland is a shareholder at the Indianapolis office of the national law firm Ogletree Deakins. His comments originally appeared in our sister publication, the HR Manager's Legal Reporter.

E-Mail Policies

Lots of employees think that e-mail is private, so be sure to have a policy that informs them otherwise. Consider the following:

  • The e-mail system is property of the company.
  • The e-mail system may be used only for business purposes.
  • The e-mail system may be monitored for legitimate business purposes.
  • No offensive material or remarks are permitted.
  • The e-mail system cannot be used to solicit for other commercial ventures.
  • Each employee is responsible for maintaining his or her e-mail station.

Have employees sign an acknowledgment and consent form, Effland recommends.

You don’t want to have a zero tolerance policy on personal use—it won’t work, he says—but you want to have something in place that you can go to when there are problems. “There's a policy, you agreed to it, you violated it, now you’re being disciplined.”

You make the policy as tough or lenient as you want it to be, but make sure to have one, says Effland.

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Virtual Data—Real Consequences

The consequences of failure with regard to e-mail can be substantial. And opposing attorneys? “They'll dig up the data and beat you over the head with it," Effland says. For example, consider:

  • Multimillion dollar verdicts/settlements against companies for harassing e-mails (for example, PrivateAir, $63.8 million; UBS, $29 million; City of Modesto, CA, $3.2 million; Chevron, $2 million)
  • Multimillion dollar settlements for destroying or “losing” electronic data that should have been maintained (Morgan Stanley, $15 million)

How about your company? Concerned about harassing e-mails? Destruction of data? E-mail privacy? In HR, if it's not one thing, it's another. EEO-1 reports? COBRA changes? FMLA intermittent leave? ADA accommodation?

You need a go-to resource, and our editors recommend the "everything HR in one website," HR.BLR.com. As an example of what you will find there, here are some policy recommendations concerning e-mail, excerpted from a sample policy on the website:

  • Privacy. The director of information services can override any individual password and thus has access to all electronic mail messages in order to ensure compliance with company policy. This means that employees do not have an expectation of privacy in their company e-mail or any other information stored or accessed on company computers.
  • E-mail review. All e-mail is subject to review by management. Your use of the e-mail system grants consent to the review of any of the messages to or from you in the system, in printed form or in any other medium.
  • Solicitation. In line with our general nonsolicitation policy, e-mail shall not be used to solicit for outside business ventures, personal parties, social meetings, charities, membership in any organization, political causes, religious causes, or other matters not connected to the company's business.

We should point out that this is just one of hundreds of sample policies on the site. (You'll also find analysis of laws and issues, job descriptions, and complete training materials for hundreds of HR topics.)

Find out what everyone is talking about. Take a no-cost look at HR.BLR.com and get a complimentary gift.

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