[plug] Acceptable use policies, employee privacy legalities etc

[Bernd Felsche]

"Senectus ." <senectus at gmail.com> writes:

>where does one go to find out just how many rights employee's have or
>how intrusive an employer can get when it comes to e-mail privacy and
>web surfing monitoring etc?

I don't believe that you'll find anything because the employees have
no rights in that regard.

Your employer is allowed to monitor how you spend the time for which
you're being paid. There are of course limitations as to when that
monitoring becomes intrusive. 

There is, as far as I know, (IANAL) any law restricting what may be
monitored in terms of electronic activity. Established case law
tends to indicate that the employer can pry all that they want
regarding the resources that they provide.

>We're writing these things up at the moment and I want to know what I
>can put in and what I can say "no you can't say that to the users"

An employer needs to draw the line to firstly let employees know
where that line is drawn. If no line is drawn, then the employee may
perceive intrusion of say reading personal emails as being
tantamount to observing bowel movements on the lavatory.

Of course employees should assume that they have no privacy when
using their employer's resources.
-- 
/"\ Bernd Felsche - Innovative Reckoning, Perth, Western Australia
\ /  ASCII ribbon campaign | "Laws do not persuade just because
 X   against HTML mail     |  they threaten."
/ \  and postings          | Lucius Annaeus Seneca, c. 4BC - 65AD.