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Q A manager is currently off sick and we would like to check her work email, as per our staff handbook.
A Email monitoring is restricted by data protection law. Simply relying on the wording in your handbook is not sufficient and additional steps should be taken to specifically notify the employee. In particular, what, how and why the email monitoring will be taking place, who will have access, and that the monitoring is for the specific purpose of ensuring business emails are not missed. It is important to have a written record of the communication.
There are a number of permitted and lawful purposes that the company can rely on – including legitimate interest of the company needing to be in a position to conduct its business.
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