Email monitoring and file deletion questions. 2

[skimmilk]

Hey Folks,
Recently my boss was fired and I was put in charge of the IT Dept. The company is a fairly small company..Approx. 65 computers. I basically was the "help desk" person and did the day to day activities. Once I was promoted I dove into what we had. first was the backup system. It did not work at all!!!!!!!!!!!! After about $6000 later I got it working, but here's the bad news. Shortly after I moved in (2 days to be exact) 2 employees came in on Monday and gave there resignations. I was informed approx. 2 hrs later to delete there accounts etc... They also asked for a copy of there data on disk. I went to the machines and they were blank. By this I mean they deleted all emails and all company data. The past IT Manager did not have any of the "safeguards" in place in exchange ie Recover deleted items and of course the backup was useless. Upper management completely understood that it was not my fault but asked how to prevent it from happening again. I have a great backup system now and have done numerous test restores and all works great.
My question is: Can a company create a policy stating that all data on the company machine is company property and if deleted upon termination will bring serious consequences etc....?
I also have reason to believe an employee is quitting soon and is passing sales leads etc to their new employer. we do have an email Policy in place stating all email can be monitored. Is this sufficient for me to actually have all this email forwarded to me and to the recipient?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[manarth]

"Can a company create a policy stating that all data on the company machine is company property and if deleted upon termination will bring serious consequences etc....?"
This is fairly normal.

"we do have an email Policy in place stating all email can be monitored. Is this sufficient for me to actually have all this email forwarded to me and to the recipient?"
Yes, but...

The proviso for both of these is the usage policy - it should be spelled out in writing, and be signed by the employee (as your confirmation that they have read and understood the policy). I'd suggest writing out a new policy and getting it signed off company wide. I'd include that "all computer and internet usage may be monitored", which means that if your rogue employee is using a webmail service to send out the leads, you have the right to monitor that as well.

Having said that, I'm based in the UK - it may be worthwhile to check with a lawyer in your country (US?) as to what steps you need to take to be able to protect yourself legally.

<marc> i wonder what will happen if i press this...[ul][li]please give feedback on what works / what doesn't[/li][li]need some help? how to get a better answer: faq581-3339[/li][/ul]

 

[Kjonnnn]

You can have such a policy. But you'll have to give it some teeth. There's not much you can do to an exiting employee other than a lawsuit, which will be an added expense and may not gain you anything.

My thinking is what will you charge them with?

If they've deleted their information, but not passed any sensitive information to an outsider, they may have broken company policy but not any confidentiality. Remember, their not employees now, so you as a company can't administer in disciplinarian actions

If you want to sue, what will be the damages? This won't be criminal so no jail term, but civil.

You'll have to count on the fear factor while there are employees and safeguarding your information while they are employees.

 

[skimmilk]

Thanks for the reply....Yes I am located in the US and our policy does state that all computer and Internet usage can be monitored. I am currently in process of re-writing the policy to be a bit more specific. I think after that we are covered......At least I hope.
Thanks again!
A

 

[skimmilk]

Thanks KJonnnnn,
I don't think my intentions are for lawsuits but just to make them think twice about how they conduct themselves in the workplace. Yes , they may be trading company leads and secrets with their future employer and I think it will be virtually impossible to eliminate all together, but I think it can be slowed down. Many users, in my opinion, do not understand what the true capabilities of an IT department are as far as monitoring their computers. If they think lawsuit or whatever consequence can be applied to them I hope it would change their minds about doing it.
Again, Thanks for the input.
A

 

[Kjonnnn]

Sound like you need a confidentiality agreement. Your company may already have one. It can be modified to specifically included computer use if you want. But usually it would be understood that any means (computer, phone, pad of paper, post-it), use to dessiminate company information woould be prohibited.

In the agreement you can:

Give notice of monitoring
Expressly prohibit the sharing of information with outside sources
State the consequence of being discovered to breach the agreement.

 

[Kjonnnn]

Oh... have the employees sign them.

&quot;I have read and understand the above confidentiality agreement ... yada yada yada....

 

[skimmilk]

I think I understand what you mean and am in the process of re-writing our current policy to include some of the above items discussed. I am also sending it to our corporate lawyer to confirm what we are doing is fair.
Thanks Again for the great replies.
A

 

[MDXer]

The only problem with confidentiality agreements at this point is that you can not force current employees into signing them. It's probably best if a company covers all their bases when hiring new employees by having written policies covering email, internet, computer system usage as well as intellectual property rights.

I have a friend that was asked to write a book for wrox. He told his employeer about it and that it was going to be done off hours and on his own time with his on resources, but the company still felt entitled to a portion of the proceeds, because much of what he knows is a result of projects he has worked on while employeed. I believe they worked it out in the end but it demonstartes a need for both parties to acknowledge what they are and are not entitled to.


&quot;Shoot Me! Shoot Me NOW!!!&quot;
- Daffy Duck

 

[Kjonnnn]

And why can't current employee sign it?

 

[Provogeek]

Actually, in states like California, you can force a current employee to sign off on a new confidentiality agreement. One of those, sign it or we have to let you go kind of things. This can be done because CA is one of those &quot;at will&quot; states. It protect both parties in an employee can quit, with out notification, and if their departure causes the company to loose anything (most common is your situation, loss of data), there is nothing the company can do about it in the legal system. It also allows a company to dismiss someone with out notice and with out cause. Just a lot of companies give the cause and open them selves up for a law suite.

And you really don't need to be PC or nice in anyway when it comes to your system and resource usage policy. I've seen policies that pretty much just state the company bought it, it belongs to the company period. You have the privledge not the right to use the system and the resources, there for rights to privacy do not apply. Any abuse in the smallest degree is grounds for termination. The company will always have the right to view any communication or data a person creates using it's systems and resources, and I have not heard any case in the courts that has won a challange to that.

 

[Kjonnnn]

Actually on confidentialy agreement you're using &quot;agreement&quot; kinda loosely and not entering into a &quot;contract&quot; (which would at least entail an offer, accept and consideration).

The signing off on the &quot;agreement&quot; is really more of an knowledgement that you have read and understand the policy and its consequences. Should you ever get busted on an infraction the company can say, you read our policy and signed it and knew the consequences. The company doesnt need your consent to institute new policies.

You can of course not sign it (as you could a dress policy or phone usage policy), but you could face the consequence. And since most workers are AT WILL employees, not agreeing to follow company policy could be detrimental.

 

[lionelhill]

MDXer,
you've brought up quite a serious point. Following the logic of this chap's employer, it would be quite reasonable for a company to charge an &quot;exit fee&quot; according to how much experience-value an employee has gained through working for them. Or demand a percentage of their next salary on the grounds that they wouldn't have got that better-paid job were it not for the oportunities they were offered in the previous job...
In my view, expecting a percentage of profits from something done in a person's spare time is a dangerous road to tread.

If a professor of Geology retires, and writes a book, should he give part of the proceeds to the various universities he worked in? He wouldn't have been able to write the book without his experience of teaching and research, and he wouldn't have got it published without his reputation....

 

[CajunCenturion]

lionhill - you do bring up a good point, and the issue is known as Intellectual Property. The things that you learn at school, on the job, and in life in general belong to you, and you are free to use that knowledge as you will, provided that you honor and protect any and all copyrights, trade secrets, patents, proprietary processes and the like. But no-one has the right to tax your knowledge. If you do something on you your own time, with your own equipment, and fully comply with the above and similar provisions, then the company has no claim. The key is be 110% sure that you only work on your own time, never use any company equipment (don't even take any pencils home), and have fully complied with the above provisions because any violation therein is the hook that the company can legitimately use to make a claim. The pencil is extreme, yes, but that is company equipment.

Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[Kjonnnn]

White paper.

http://whitepapers.informationweek.com/data/detail?id=1061479897_634&type=RES&src=TOPRES

 

[lionelhill]

Cajun, have a look back at MDXer's posting. It sounded like the person he refers to was indeed using only their own resources in their own time. The company wanted cash because they felt he wouldn't have been able to write his book were it not for experience he gained from working with them.

This sort of experience is a bit of a grey area for intellectual property. Obviously any discovery I make in the course of my work belongs to the people I work for. Any idea that occurs to me in the shower, and that I wouldn't have had were it not for the work, belongs to the company too. But what about my improved skills in my trade, gained from the mere fact I've been doing it?

In my view that's mine. The company needs to decide if they are paying for my skills, or if I'm paying for theirs, 'cos it's not reasonable to have it both ways simultaneously.

 

[CajunCenturion]

I've read the post, and I still stand by my comments. Just because a company tries to obtain money does not mean they are entitled to it. Just ask you friendly neighborhood attorney about monies being sought without proper entitlement. Without knowing a great deal more about the specifics of MDXer's friend, including the subject and details of the book, and the details of his employment and job activities, it would be foolish to make an assesment either way.

Intellectual property is an extremely complex issue, and complicated by its close relationships with copyrights, patents, trade secrets, and trademarks. As such, there is no real definative answer, and often, each situation has different twists and turns, and stands on its own.

We all learn from our various experiences, and we take that knowledge with us for the rest of our lives. To paraphrase from MDXer's post, much of what we all know is from the experiences gained while working from projects for our employers. As long as we are not violating copyrights, patents, trade secrets, and so forth, we cannot be prevented from using that which we know for our own gainful advantage. In this situation, suppose that the friend resigned from the poistion and then decided to write the book. Does the compnay still have a claim? What is the book is written 1 year later?, 5 years later? 10 year later. Does the original company still have a claim? The answer is a definate maybe. Have you not brought with you to your current employer tricks that you learned from a previous employer, or a previous project?

To further confuse the issue, let's take a look at your shower example where you come up with an idea. That idea belongs to you. If you then choose to implement that idea inside some portion of your employer's environment, then its implementaion belongs to the company, and may become part of the trade secrets of the company and as such, will diminish your ability to exploit the idea in the future.

In the final analysis, it generally boils down to what you know belongs to you, and you can use that information as you best see fit, provided[/b], that you do not violate any patents, copyrights, trade secrets, trademarks, and like that belong to someone else.

Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[lionelhill]

Yes, you are absolutely right. It is also a complicated area full of practicalities not easily handled by law. For instance, if I have my idea in the shower, but go and implement it with a competitor of my current employer, it would be very hard for the current employer to prove I had the idea based on work with them (on the grounds that my new work with the competitor is probably very similar and could therefore equally have given rise to the idea).

On the whole, though, there's a practical side, which is if an employer irritates their employees sufficiently by laying claim to every aspect of their life with a view to extracting cash, no one of any quality will want to work for them.

But I'm rambling off topic. Sorry!