Email and telephone usage


Because the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA98) extends to the workplace, workers have the right to a “reasonable” amount of personal correspondence and calls during work time. This does not mean workers have the legal right to use the work phone, email or internet for personal reasons (although there must be access to some private communication system). Good employers will trust their staff to make reasonable private use of these facilities, as long as that use does not interfere with work or bring the employer’s business into “disrepute”.


There should be a policy in place explaining clearly what amounts to reasonable use. It should also cover information about monitoring and access. 


OFCOM has produced guidance confirming that to comply with obligations under HRA98, any employers, such as call centres, which routinely record inward and outbound telephone calls must provide staff with a means of making calls that are not recorded, such as a separate phone on the premises.


An employer intending to monitor email or internet use must first inform staff. This is normally done through a policy or employment contract. 


The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) prohibits intentional “interception” of emails without lawful authority. RIPA therefore bans an employer from deliberately reading the content of emails that are obviously private, even when sent using the work email system, unless there is an exceptional reason, for example the investigation of criminal activity. 


However, RIPA does not usually apply to communications via the intranet, in other words internal communications that are not connected to the public email/phone system. In addition, since RIPA bars interception that takes place “without lawful authority”, employers can avoid liability by obtaining workers’ clear explicit consent, for example in the signed employment contract.