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See today's FT for the following:
LEADER: You have mail? Hand it over!
Financial Times; Feb 12, 2002
Will office etiquette in the UK ever be the same again? The news that staff
can now demand access to virtually all confidential records about them will
shock many managers. Even employers who pride themselves on taking an
enlightened, open approach may balk at being forced to disclose managers'
e-mails and doodlings.
They can expect little sympathy from the Information Commission. The
enforcement body for these new data protection rights seems determined to
take a hard line. Its draft code spelling out employers' obligations
stresses that disclosure cannot be refused simply because it would embarrass
the organisation or derail disciplinary proceedings.
Business groups have reacted with alarm to this stance. Their first line of
counter-attack has focused on red tape, voicing concern about the
bureaucracy the new rights may generate.
However, any organisation that keeps employees' records efficiently should
not find the access rights unduly difficult to comply with. And the new code
allows employers to refuse requests that would take a disproportionate
effort to meet: lawyers who mount fishing expeditions can be sent away
empty-handed.
A more fundamental cause of managers' unease is the apparent invasion of
their right to communicate in private about employees. Many employers regard
e-mail as a simple extension of oral communication, sending casual comments
in messages that they would never dream of including in formal letters. The
speed, informality and ease of use that have made e-mail invaluable as a
business tool have also encouraged its use for comments about staff.
Yet e-mail is already a factor in employment disputes. Lawyers citing
injudicious e-mails have found they can tilt the balance of an employment
tribunal in an employee's favour.
Business groups have lobbied the Information Commission for the right to
monitor all e-mails sent and received by workers. Employers argue -
justifiably - that such messages are as much their legitimate concern as
documents carrying handwritten signatures. They can hardly then deny
employees access to e-mails that concern them.
Most progressive organisations already allow employees full access to notes
of their appraisals and many other personnel files. By fostering trust in
the workplace, such openness enhances rather than impairs corporate
efficiency. The move in the UK to extend this access to all records, which
chimes with the wider European respect for data protection, is not one that
sensible employers should resist.
-----Original Message-----
From: Sally Justice [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 12 February 2002 09:08
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: soon to be a new Act!!!
Anybody know why reporters repeatedly get their facts wrong?
Any reporters on this list I wonder?
I read again today in the newspaper
'soon people will be to access files containg their
personal details.... etc. etc. '
who did this publicity do you think?
I have had several phone calls form staff asking me if
I know anything about a new Act can you believe! Never
mind I circulate all staff every few months with updates,
run workshops and awareness session etc...
Ah well must be doing a rotten job I suppose.
Sally Justice
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