# Boss opening personal mail?



## colin79ie (15 Jan 2007)

Is it legal for a company manager to open personal mail addressed to an employee of the company, which is posted to the company office?


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## bond-007 (15 Jan 2007)

Unless such letters are marked private and confidental they are free to open all mail. 
Why are you receiving personal mail at your place of work? I am sure your boss would prefer you to receive your private mail at your residence or a Post Office box.


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## Ravima (15 Jan 2007)

in some financial institutions all main is opened, lest the correspondence be urgent and if left unopened on the employees desk, it could get mislaid or if s/he was absent, not dealt with until their return.

if it was the encashment of a policy, then there could be a different value on a different date and if the value was lower, customer would possibly complain.


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## PM1234 (15 Jan 2007)

Perhaps if getting mail sent to your work address ask the sender to mark it 'Private & Confidential and To be opened by addressee only'? 

It might solve your problem. I do this sometimes if expecting a package (during work hours) rather than having to chase the post office to personally collect same.


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## Z100 (15 Jan 2007)

bond-007 said:


> Unless such letters are marked private and confidental they are free to open all mail.
> Why are you receiving personal mail at your place of work? I am sure your boss would prefer you to receive your private mail at your residence or a Post Office box.


 
Good grief, if my boss started opening letters addressed to me in the office I'd probably deck him! Surely even work-related post addressed to _you_ should be private? (Unless you have left the company, in which case it would be justified if not marked private). 

What would the boss's motivation be other than snooping? If you still work there then presumably you're dealing with the correspondence?

And there _are_ genuine occasions when someone who doesn't have your home address needs to contact you at your work address, sometimes by post, why should that be a big deal?

I have no clue about the legalities of this but I'd be horrified if any employer had the right to do it. Very interested to know if it _is_ legal.


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## Z100 (15 Jan 2007)

Interesting........

[broken link removed]

*Is my boss allowed to listen to my voicemail or open my email whilst I’m away from work?*

An employer is entitled to access your in-box or voicemail if they believe that there will be business communications that need to be dealt with in your absence, and if they have notified you that this will happen whilst you are away. 
Employers should take all possible steps to avoid accessing communications that can be positively identified as not relating to the business without opening them, e.g. e-mails that are marked 'Personal' in the header. 
To be more assured of privacy in such a situation, we would recommend starting personal e-mails' subject lines with the word 'Personal' and any confidential e-mails relating to union matters with the word 'Union'. 
Bear in mind though that this will not guarantee any level of privacy if the employer has another reason to intercept your email (for example if they suspect criminal activity, or they need to check that the business is complying with legal obligations).


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## SeanA (15 Jan 2007)

If the envelope is marked Personal Post then I don't think they should be opening it for you. Although I expect the counter arguement is why is personal post being sent to a work address? Emails I think are different.


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## Lipstick69 (16 Jan 2007)

Undre the Postal and Telecommunications Act 1983 it's an offence to open a postal packet addressed to another person withour their agreement. I suppose your contract could have that agreement built in so you would have to opt out.


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## Buddyboy (17 Jan 2007)

When I worked in the two of the big accountancy firms, it was understood that _all_ mail was opened (from the senior partner down).  All mail went to the post room, where it was opened and stamped.  I presume, but can't recall, that this was in the employee handbook.

All mail was opened, stamped as being received, and then directed to the correct recepient.

As a previous poster said, the reasoning behind this was that clients often marked post "private and confidential" when sending in buisness related letters and therefore it had to be ensured that these were all redirected if the adressee was absent.

I agree with this approach, in that the possibility of a business related mail not being opened as it was adressed "Private and confidential" far outweighted any problem with personal mail being opened. Of course this has to be stated to the employee in some manner. I am also aware that what is correct for a big company may not be applied to a three man operation.

By the way, I also agree with all email and files being accessable to the company as it is the one providing the facility, and is the one ultimately legally responsible for its content.

Which raises the question, if you were sent illegal or immoral items through the post to your employers address, and they didn't open it as it was marked "private and confidential", would they be legally liable for providing you the means, i.e. the address, through which you performed this illegal act?


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## Purple (17 Jan 2007)

Buddyboy said:


> Which raises the question, if you were sent illegal or immoral items through the post to your employers address, and they didn't open it as it was marked "private and confidential", would they be legally liable for providing you the means, i.e. the address, through which you performed this illegal act?


 I agree. Your employer has a responsibility to make sure that no illegal activities are taking place on his or her premises or by his or her employees during working hours. 

If you don't want your personal mail opened then have it sent to your home.
The only qualification that I would make to that is it should be made clear to everyone in the organisation that this policy is in place when they start working there.


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## Yachtie (18 Jan 2007)

In my last job, it was stated in Employee Handbook that recieving personal post and parcels at the business address is strictly prohibited. 

Our boss used to open all post regardless of whether it was marked 'Private & Confidential' but she is a bit of a control freak!


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## Bamhan (19 Jan 2007)

All mail is opened at reception here at work, even if marked private and confidential it is date stamped and then directed to appropriate person.


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