Email Acceptable Use Policy

These guidelines are intended to help you make the best use of the electronic mail facilities at your disposal. You should understand the following.

The Organisation provides electronic mail to staff to enable them to communicate effectively and efficiently with other members of staff, other companies and partner organisations
The primary use of email is to access/distribute/update information, confirm arrangements, confirm meetings
The facility is provided for company business. Like telephone calls reasonable personal use of is acceptable but should be kept to a minimum and used with consideration
Note that email is NOT private
Only open email attachments from known and trusted sources

When using the Organisation's electronic mail facilities you should comply with the following guidelines.

Check your electronic mail daily to see if you have any messages
Include a meaningful subject line in your message
Check the address line before sending a message and check you are sending it to the right person
Delete electronic mail messages when they are no longer required
Respect the legal protections to data and software provided by copyright and licences
Take care not to express views, which could be regarded as defamatory or libellous
Ensure that you turn on the out of office function when you will be unable to check your email during business hours
Treat an email message as if it were a hard copy letter and drafted and checked in the same way
Inform your direct line manager immediately if you are in receipt of an item which you feel should have been prohibited
Ensure that all messages are clear and unambiguous
Ensure that your use is lawful, honest and decent, and have regard to the rights and sensitivities of other people as failure could result in action being brought against you
Remember, that mail might accidentally reach somebody for whom it was not intended
Keep email use for personal reasons to a bare minimum
Exercise caution when opening emails with attachements.

DO NOT

Print electronic mail messages unless absolutely necessary
Expect an immediate reply, the recipient might not be at their computer or could be too busy to reply straight away
Forward electronic mail messages sent to you personally to others, particularly newsgroups or mailing lists, without the permission of the originator
Send excessively large electronic mail messages or attachments
Send unnecessary messages such as festive greetings or other non-work items by electronic mail, particularly to several people
Participate in chain or pyramid messages or similar schemes
Represent yourself as another person
Use electronic mail to send or forward material that could be construed as confidential, political, obscene, threatening, offensive or libellous
Use email as a substitution for face to face or telephone conversation where these are necessary and cannot substitute for managerial control
Use email for vindictive, harassing, discriminatory or abusive comment or criticism of anyone whether the target is another employee or any third parties
Respond to an email message in haste, anger or hostility
Forward Company sensitive information to external sources. External Sources can include any persons or private email addresses that do not belong to the company, including your own
Make libelous or potentially libelous statements
Send offensive/obscene/untrue or malicious statements or attachments
Use foul or offensive language including indecent, sexist, obscene or racist remarks
Breach confidentiality or copyright
Send anything which may damage the business interests of the Company or the Group
Open attachements when you do not know the source or sender, if in any doubt please refer to the IT Department.

Please note the following

All electronic mail activity is monitored, logged and archived.
All electronic mail coming into or leaving the Organisation is scanned for viruses.
All the content of electronic mail is scanned for offensive material.
All electronic mail is archived for 5 years.

If you are in any doubt about an issue affecting the use of electronic mail you should consult the I.T. Department.

Any breach of the Organisation's Electronic Mail Acceptable Use Policy may lead to disciplinary action.