Email, your biggest problem? - it could be!

I had a query from a client this week regarding a subject access request from one of their employees. The employee had resigned and subsequently put in a subject access request for emails mentioning them in the previous six months. The client's belief is that the employee is hoping to find something in the emails which will show some prejudice against them by their manager.

As knowledge of the Data Protection Act increases, the many uses of it are being explored for lots of different reasons. It is increasingly being used by disgruntled employees to seek information which would support a claim for unfair treatment.

Regardless of whether the employee is right or not, every business should consider the consequences of staff putting comments (an opinion) of any sort into an email, unless it is a professional opinion which can be backed up.

So what's the upshot of this case? If there is anything that is contentious in the emails, the employee may have a case against the organisation and resolving that could be a costly exercise both in terms of time and money. How many organisations can afford to defend a claim in these circumstances?

Ultimately, this is about ensuring that staff have adequate training to ensure that they are not putting themselves or the organisation at risk of litigation. The amount that it costs to get the staff trained with regard to email etiquette as opposed to the amount that will need to be paid out in compensation or legal defence costs is minimal. Contact me if you would like to talk about our training programmes.