A Midlands commercial litigation lawyer has said that a European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling that employers can read employees’ private messages on internet chat and webmail accounts sent in work time, underlines the value and importance of clear policies and contracts of employment.
Michael Wakeling, a partner in the Dispute Resolution team at Lodders Solicitors, specialises in commercial and contractual disputes. He said:“In January, ECHR judges in Strasbourg ruled that a company was within its rights to read a worker’s Yahoo Messenger chats that he sent whilst he was at work. Lines between work and leisure times are increasingly blurred as workers spend more time in the office. This latest case particularly highlights the relevance and importance of having, firstly, water-tight employee-monitoring policies in place,” he said, “and also the value of including clear information on the company’s policies on employee use of the internet, both personal and business, along with the consequences if a breach occurs.”
In the case, a man had used Yahoo Messenger whilst at work, to communicate with both professional and personal contacts. His employer had accessed his account and made the discovery – and he was subsequently sacked in 2007. He took his case to the ECHR, in the hope it would rule that in accessing his private messages, his employer had breached his right to confidential correspondence.
“He argued that his right to a private life had been breached when his employer had read messages on his Yahoo Messenger account that he had set up at work, as well as those on a second, personal one,” explained Mr Wakeling.
“Importantly, the employer had previously banned staff from sending personal messages at work, and had given the man prior warning that it could check his messages. In so doing, it was clear to its employees the possible outcomes and consequences of using company time, internet and equipment to send personal messages, unrelated to work.”
In fact, judges said the man had breached the company’s rules, that his employer had a right to check on his activities, and because his employer believed it was accessing his work account, it had neither made a mistake, nor breached his privacy. The court judges said the employer had acted within its disciplinary powers because – as the local courts had found – it was not unreasonable for an employer to want to verify that employees were completing their professional tasks during working hours. And the case was dismissed.
“This case reinforces that, by including this type of information in contracts of employment, companies ensure staff are aware of their policies, and if these are breached, it then has the tools to support any subsequent action it takes.” The ECHR binds all countries that have ratified the European Convention on Human Rights, which includes Britain.
