Question

The XYZ Corporation has decided to open all mail sent to employees who work in the field. A memorandum was sent to the field staff saying, “Sorry, your mail will be either opened or returned to the sender if it is delivered to your workplace. If the sender is from a healthcare organization, it will be opened to determine if its contents relate to XYZ’s business. If the mail is from any other per- son or place, it will be returned unopened to the sender. This action is necessary from a cost-savings standpoint. XYZ cannot afford to forward the aver- age of 60 pieces of mail that it receives each month addressed to field staff.” What happens to opened mail that is not XYZ’s business remains a mystery. What is it that drives an organization to make such decisions? Is it fear of competition, paranoia, distrust, or some other hid- den issue? The answer remains elusive. Although it is legal for an organization to open all mail before sorting and delivering it, employees should be told that they should have no expectation of privacy and that they should not have anything personal sent to work that they do not want others to see. Managers should not open an employee’s mail indiscriminately; such invasion of privacy will undermine employee moral.

1. Discuss under what circumstances an organization should open an employee’s mail. 2. Discuss any legal and ethical concerns (e.g., right to privacy). 3. What should happen to the mail of an employee that is opened but is not intended for the organization? What if that information is confidential in nature and is shared with others? 4. What safeguards should organizations put into place to protect personal information?

Answer 1

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Discuss under what circumstances an organization should open an employee’s mail.

The given case is based on employee’s right to privacy and confidentiality.

• An organization should open an employee’s mail if it is stated clearly in the company’s policy that such mail shall be the property of the employer and the employees should not ask senders to deliver their personal mails at workplace.
• The organization should open the employee’s mail if there is distrust and doubt on employee’s integrity towards the company.
• It can also be done if the company fears that sensitive information is being passed on to the competitors.

Discuss any legal and ethical concerns (e.g., right to privacy).

The legal and ethical concerns surrounding opening of employee mails by the employer are listed as follows:

• Such an act violates the right to privacy and confidentiality of an employee, though it is not unlawful.

• Opening of personal mails shows that the company does not place trust in its employees and doubts their integrity.

• It leads to lower morale among employees.

• Personal mails which are of no interest to the company may be shared further, leading to employee resentment.

Thus, above mentioned are the legal and ethical concerns

What safeguards should organizations put into place to protect personal information?

The following safeguards can be put into place by an organization to protect personal information:

• Marking all important files as Confidential and limiting their access to a handful of employees at higher levels.

• Using password protected computers.

• Encryption of confidential information.

• Development of an effective safeguards program and reviewing it at regular intervals.

• Regular employee training in maintaining security of information.

• Developing programs to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information.

• Using of firewalls, anti-virus and anti-spyware programs.

• Regular audit

• Implementation of effective discipline program.

• Legally binding the employees to follow company’s confidentiality standards.

• Thus all these ways can be implemented to protect personal information.

What should happen to the mail of an employee that is opened but is not intended for the organization? What if that information is confidential in nature and is shared with others?

The mail that is opened but is not intended for the organization should be returned to the employee for whom it is meant. It should not be circulated within the organization at various levels at it results in lower employee morale.If such information is confidential in nature and is shared with others; it would cause employee resentment. The employee would lose faith in the organization and would find the workplace environment hostile towards him.Such a situation is detrimental both for the employee as well as the company, and so it must be avoided at all costs.

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