Does your boss read your emails? Can they? Should they?

[QuettaKid]

Just wondering....

[Cyndee_Lou_Who]

1. Assuming we're talking about a work-issued email account... No, yes, yes.

There is liability involved in communications though business accounts.

[redqueen]

2. Yes, I think most do.

I think they get scanned if there's heavy usage or red-flagged items in most companies, and if so a report or summary of use is sent to the manager of the offending employee for review / discussion.

[philosophie_en_rose]

3. Work email or personal email?

If you use an employers email, my feeling is that your emailing represents the company and isn't really confidential within the company.

If you use a personal email address at home, it's your own business and employers should not interfere without a legitimate reason (ex: you send a personal email stating "I work at company X and we all worship Satan).

If you use a personal email address on company time, there are arguments for and against. I don't think that the employer should read emails, but the fact that you were using work time for personal issues might matter. :shrug:

My recommendation is to leave anything sensitive for home.

[RebelOne]

7. There is absolutely no way they can access your personal account.

In fact, that would be an invasion of privacy, if they could.

[Jokerman]

8. Unless you access it from a company computer.

People in my organization have made the mistake of thinking that messages sent from work using an "anonymous" web mail account can't be traced. They can.

As I said in another post, I only do this when I have some reason to suspect a violation of company policy.

[philosophie_en_rose]

11. I'm not sure that that's true.

If you access your personal account at work, I think there might be a record.

But I was more thinking about emails sent about your company from a private account. They don't have to break into your account for someone to forward an email that casts aspersions on your job.

[Blue-Jay]

4. He can. He doesn't. Should? I don't care.

I use my gmail address for personal emails, and my business addy is only used for business.

[RebelOne]

5. They can in my company.

In fact, from the main office, they can even log into my computer and see what's on my desktop. I work for a very large corporation that has all kinds of high-tech equipment. But I don't worry about the e-mail because I never receive any personal mail. That's what my ISP e-mail account is for.

[Jokerman]

6. I am the boss and no, yes and yes.

I have the responsibility to monitor employees use of company networks. Truth is I don't have the time to monitor every communication and I only look at an employees activity when I have reason to suspect they may be violating our acceptable use policy.

[tigereye]

9. yes and no

since I am my own boss, it's not a problem. When I worked for a large organization, I only sent work related e-mail and we had no Internet usage, per se.

I think if you use a work owned computer and write on company time, they do have the right to read them if they want to. I would hope that type of thing would not take up a ton of time and that businesses would trust their employees more. Naive, aren't I? ;)

[chaska]

10. I used to work at a company where the president read emails...

She read one critical of her bitch ass (sorry for the editorializing) and fired the guy who wrote it. He killed himself shortly thereafter (he had AIDS, but still).

[LSK]

12. my boss is CC'ed in most of my emails

But they are mostly all work related. I keep personal stuff on my yahoo or other email accounts.

Yes they can read them.