Comstock's magazine 1117 - November 2017 | Page 30

n EVIL HR LADY
DILEMMA OF THE MONTH
Snooping on Employee Email
by Suzanne Lucas
ILLUSTRATION: JOHN CHASE
I
have an employee who hasn’t been performing
well. She always has an excuse. Last week, she
was out sick again and I needed a report that
I know she’d received from a client. I tried to call
her, but she didn’t answer. So, I asked IT if I could
get the report from her email, and they gave me
access to her inbox. I found the report, but curiosity
overcame me, and I opened a few other emails
with subject lines that caught my eye. Turns out
that my employee has been doing a lot of non-
work related things at work. I feel totally guilty — I
snooped. Is this legal? Is it moral? What do I do with
this information?
A
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comstocksmag.com | November 201 7
IF IT WAS HER WORK EMAIL ON A WORK
COMPUTER, which it sounds like it was,
and since your IT department was able
to give you access, then you’re probably
legally good. Everyone should always
assume that 100 percent of their work
computer usage is monitored, even if
employees are accessing their private
email account.
Most companies and most manag-
ers don’t care one whit about the dra-
ma in your family that unfolds on your
private email, but if you choose to log
in to your professional account, that