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In a world of increasing litigation, your company e-mail system can be your worse enemy. People forget that e-mails are a record of conversation and sometimes an off-colour joke passed to the wrong person will lead to costly and disruptive consequences.

Circulating humour and jokes may seem harmless enough if the subject matter is not grossly offensive however, what most people forget is once the e-mail is transmitted the company, the person from whom it originates and all subsequent recipients and transmitters are likely to remain in circulation. The person sending an e-mail has no control once it leaves his or her system. For this reason, even a relatively tame humorous e-mail has potential to cause offence and the aggrieved person or persons now have an electronic record proving their case.

Irrespective of the nature, be it humour, graphics, an e-mail critical of another person or even a social chat between colleagues using the company e-mail system the organisation is at risk of the wrong person receiving an e-mail that instigates some form of unforeseen consequences. How easy is it for e-mails containing personal information going to the wrong person because of a lapse in concentration or a typing error in the address field?

In order to minimise risk and ensure the e-mail system serves its intended purpose, rules and policy need to be clear, understood by all employees and diligently monitored to ensure adherence with rules and policy. This does not mean invasion of privacy or spying on employees it can be as simple as an effective filter system that flags key words, phrases or even high risk addresses such as a rival company. Company policy regarding e-mails should therefore include rules such as:

The company e-mail system is for official use only
Circulation of humour, jokes or chain letters is prohibited
E-mails of a personal nature are prohibited
Use of the company e-mail system for reprimanding subordinates is prohibited

These are only the basics. The nature of your organisation may require additional safeguards such as policy for mandatory reporting any inappropriate or offensive material received from outside the organisation. This information will assist your system administrators in setting up effective e-mail filters to safeguard against future instances of such material sent from outside the organisation.

The sensitivity of proprietary information is another important area requiring specific rules and policy to protect intellectual copyright or

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