ABSTRACT
All employers should have a policy which makes it clear that excessive personal use of the internet and the accessing pornography and other unsuitable material are strictly prohibited. An email and internet policy should tell employees whether, and to what extent, they may make use of the systems for personal use. As well as being the most popular communications medium in business, email is also the biggest burden on IT storage. The explosion in use has led to colossal personal mailboxes and ever-increasing archiving and long-term storage needs. Employees have an email account because the company sees it as necessary for their work. It is tool to assist with work. Many employers will want to monitor the use of email and the internet. If employees are caught breaching the procedure, they should be disciplined. Any policy should warn employees of the use of monitoring software and the use of covert monitoring in light of the Human Rights Act 1998.
