Free Electronic Communications Policy

We are pleased to include a sample Electronic Communications Policy that you can use in your business.

Remember to review and/or adapt this policy in accordance with company-specific requirements and all relevant legal considerations.

Operating Principle
[INSERT COMPANY NAME] strives to provide a safe and secure environment for its assets and technology.

Policy
[INSERT COMPANY NAME]’s mail and electronic communications systems (such as e-mail, voicemail, and [INSERT COMPANY NAME] Web) and access to the Internet are provided to help employees and contractors perform their duties while supporting [INSERT COMPANY NAME]’s business needs and are for [INSERT COMPANY NAME] business use only.

Any abuse or overuse of this policy may result in personal use being withdrawn and/or disciplinary action being taken.

Employee’s Responsibilities
You are responsible and accountable for how you use [INSERT COMPANY NAME]’s mail and electronic communications systems, so use them wisely.

Remember that e-mails, however confidential or damaging, may have to be disclosed in court proceedings or in investigations by competition authorities/regulatory bodies.

Work on the basis that e-mails may be read by others. Do not say anything in an e-mail that you would not want to be made public or may embarrass [INSERT COMPANY NAME].

Remember that e-mails can form binding contracts, so do not make any commitments in an email that you are not authorised to make.

You are also responsible for protecting valuable company assets, as well as [INSERT COMPANY NAME] third-party confidential and proprietary information, by:

Sharing information on a strict need-to-know basis;
Classifying documents and electronic mail;
Making hard copies of e-mails that you need to retain for record-keeping purposes;
Utilising confidential waste bins or shredders for the disposal of confidential, proprietary, and trade secret information; and
Using virus protection and password protection on computer systems as directed by IT.

Manager’s Responsibilities
As a manager, you are also responsible for informing employees/contractors of their obligation to comply with this policy and to protect [INSERT COMPANY NAME]’s assets, and evaluating their compliance in their performance reviews.

Email and Internet Use Guidelines
[INSERT COMPANY NAME] has set standards for appropriate behaviour for [INSERT COMPANY NAME]. Employees/contractors when using email and Internet services. These guidelines apply to all [INSERT COMPANY NAME] employees and contractors, as set out below.

Appropriate use of email, Internet, and other electronic communications services:

Sending and receiving official [INSERT COMPANY NAME] communications;
Participating in business and technology discussions;
Providing customer support;
Locating and retrieving business-related information from the Internet;
Participating in business and technology bulletin board and news group discussions;
Providing access to non-confidential information;
Exchanging non-confidential information via electronic mail;
Minimal use of e-mail/internet for personal communications in accordance with the above guidelines.

Inappropriate use of email, Internet, and other electronic communications services includes, but is not limited to:

Sending messages which could be taken as slurs or harassment based on sex, national origin, race, religion, age, sexual orientation, disability, or marital status, and/or which are incompatible with [INSERT COMPANY NAME]’s policies on any of the above:
Sending or posting threatening or libelous messages;
Forging or attempting to forge e-mail messages;
Reading, deleting, copying, or modifying the e-mail of others without their permission;
Violating your obligations regarding confidential, proprietary, and trade secret information. This includes sending or posting [INSERT COMPANY NAME] confidential materials outside of [INSERT COMPANY NAME] or posting [INSERT COMPANY NAME] confidential materials inside [INSERT COMPANY NAME]; these materials are to be kept by non-authorised personnel.
Accessing any website from [INSERT COMPANY NAME]’s systems that, on the broadest meaning of those terms, could be regarded as offensive, in bad taste, or immoral (whether or not the content is legal). As a general rule, if any person within [INSERT COMPANY NAME] (whether intended to view the page or not) might be offended by the contents of a page, or if the fact that [INSERT COMPANY NAME]’s systems had accessed the page might embarrass [INSERT COMPANY NAME] if made public, then it may not be viewed.
Encouraging any act of violence;
Soliciting or advertising for outside products or services, political donations or contributions;
Using [INSERT COMPANY NAME]. Equipment or electronic resources for personal gain or purposes unrelated to [INSERT COMPANY NAME]’s business;
Engaging in activities outside the bounds of ethical or proper behaviour;
Committing any other serious violation of [INSERT COMPANY NAME] policies or guidelines (e.g., policies on copyrights, trademarks, or sexual harassment);
Supporting illegal activities (e.g., not following laws governing the import and export of technology, software, and data);
Breaking into any computer, whether of [INSERT COMPANY NAME] or another organisation;
Copying electronic files or other software without permission or in violation of copyright laws and licensing agreements; and
Sending chain letters through electronic mail.

[INSERT COMPANY NAME]. Requires all employees to comply with this policy. Non-compliance could result in disciplinary action, which, in severe circumstances, may lead to dismissal.

Policy Enforcement

Monitoring for keywords and addressees

[INSERT COMPANY NAME] management reserves the right to monitor the use of [INSERT COMPANY NAME]’s communications systems by employees/contractors for non-compliance with this policy.

[INSERT COMPANY NAME] will initially monitor for keyword alarms and particular addressees that indicate a breach of this policy. If the monitoring software detects an email, it will be sent unopened to the IT manager of the region where the relevant employee/contractor is based.

Access to e-mail content by [INSERT COMPANY NAME] management

If [INSERT COMPANY NAME] reasonably suspects a breach of this policy or any other misconduct, [INSERT COMPANY NAME] management may open any e-mail, letter, fax, package, voicemail, file or other electronic message sent through any of [INSERT COMPANY NAME]’s communications systems.

Communications will be opened by Country IT management after notifying HR management. [INSERT COMPANY NAME] will cease opening or reading any communication (and destroy copies) if the communication is personal to the employee/contractor and there is no breach of this policy or other wrongdoing against [INSERT COMPANY NAME].

The data obtained as a result of this monitoring will be held by HR management. Suppose a breach of this policy or other wrongdoing has been disclosed. In that case, HR management will decide the following steps to be taken, and the data obtained as a result of the monitoring may be reviewed by [INSERT COMPANY NAME] management.

[INSERT COMPANY NAME] may also monitor access to the Internet by employees/contractors for keyword/content alarms and particular website addresses that indicate a breach of this policy, and disciplinary action may be taken where an employee accesses an inappropriate or offensive website in breach of the guidelines set out above.

RESPONSIBILITIES

DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES
The Department of Human Resources is responsible for the following:

Maintaining and overseeing the Electronic Communications Policy, in association with the IT Manager, at [INSERT COMPANY NAME].
Initiating or recommending immediate action in response to circumstances where warranted.
Analysing and reporting all non-adherences to this policy regularly, with recommendations for addressing problems/issues identified.
Ensuring the confidentiality of all Electronic Communications Information once they are received in the Department of Human Resources.

EMPLOYING DEPARTMENT
Employing Departments are responsible for the following:

Ensuring that the Human Resources Department is informed immediately of all known non-adherences to this policy.
Communicating the Company’s policy on electronic communications to its staff.
Initiating follow-up action where appropriate.

EMPLOYEES
Employees are responsible for adhering to the Electronic at [INSERT COMPANY NAME].

REPORTING
The Department of Human Resources will undertake any necessary actions, including reports, to address any concerns.

REVIEW OF PROCEDURE
This Procedure will be reviewed within twelve months of its initial implementation.