Comm 285 - Addressing E-Mail, Internet Use, and Privacy Policies

April Mull

University Of Phoenix

COMM/285

Antoinette Holman

May 30, 2011

Addressing e-mail, Internet use, and privacy policies

What are the e-mail, Internet use and privacy policies at your job? The e-mail use at my job is that it can't be used for personal use, but only company business. Internet use at my job is definitely for business use only. At my job I can't get on it to shop or pay bills, but only for company business. The privacy policy is your own personal information that you allow your company to have, but you still have right's. The company can not disclose any of your information. The privacy policy can also help protect you against internet fraud, make sure your computer is safe, and also protect you and your personal information.

What are the current laws regulating employee e-mails and internet privacy? One law is the at-will law. This law gives an employer the right to relieve an employee of duty with any explanation what so ever. The employer does not need a reason, you can show up for work one day, and they can let you go without any explanation. Another law is when a company does not allow a union in the company. A union can prevent a employee from being relieved of duty without any just cause. With a union there has to be a valid reason for letting an employee go. Employees have constitutional rights to privacy; it cannot be invaded according to the law. Most companies have the right to retrieve your e-mail and internet use.

Why do companies implement e-mail and internet use policies? Most companies implement e-mail and internet use policies because some employees will download porn, shop on line, get involved in fraud, theft, and some people will sexually harass another person. All of these things can cause a problem for a company, such as law suits. A lot of the time companies implement these laws because of lost product, to protect their assets, and it helps on controlling internet cost.

What assumptions might employees make about their privacy at work? A lot of times employees assume things because they don't have a clear understanding of something. Employees misuse the e-mail system because they haven't had the proper in process training. As a result of this, employers install a monitoring system to see how it is occurring from beginning to end. The employee should be straight forward of their rules and policies when employed with a company. Employees think that their privacy is being invaded by the employer when they are being monitored. What an employee needs to realize is that when you are at work, you should only be conducting company business. Personal e-mails should be done at home on your own personal e-mail (Thompson, DeTienne, and Smart 158). Companies should always inform employees of the monitoring of the e-mail and internet use. If the employees are aware of all of this information, they will stop assuming things about the company they work for.

How do these policies affect employee privacy at work? It affects the employees because everything that they do they are feeling that they are being watched and spied on. When a person is at work they want to be comfortable and not on edge, worrying about if