Is this a breach of confidentiality or should my employers not have been so nosy?

Question

Both my partner and I work in the same company, same building, same floor, different rooms. As such we very occasionally email each other about semi-personal things (e.g., What time are you planning on leaving?, Have you been for your lunch yet?, Do you want to come to the pub later with our department?) along with more professional emails.

I work as a code monkey, he's a analytical chemist. The other day my department had been discussing impending staff departures and mentioned that somebody in my partner's team was leaving. As it was the first I'd heard of it I later sent a p.s in an email to my partner asking whether he knew that Joe Bloggs was leaving.

Later that day I got a verbal warning for sending confidential data to my partner over email. I am currently unsure whether to challenge it as I'm not sure whether I'm in the wrong or not. Do companies also generally monitor emails to this extent?

Edit: The guy was leaving due to retirement and the other team had already been made aware. Given that it was already being discussed in the open plan office I didn't think it was a confidential piece of information.

Edit: Spoke to my supervisor who has said it wasn't an official warning. He rolled his eyes and grumbled about management trying to make a point. He suggests that talking about other people is off limits within the realms of email conversations (along with the obvious of inappropriate personal conversations etc). The majority of staff here have family members/partners within the company so this must be something that crops up occasionally.

Answer 1

Yes you are in the wrong. Notice of layoffs should not be sent unofficially to friends. All emails are subject to monitoring as the email system is a company asset, so there is no expectation of privacy ever on anything sent through a company email.

Personally I would take this as a clue that you should not be using company email for anything personal at all at this company. When you are in a relationship with someone at work, even someone in a different department, it becomes easy to cross the line and get far more personal than is appropriate at work (people have been fired before for emails with sexual content sent to people they were having a relationship with through a work email system) or to share information that should not be shared. Clearly your company does monitor and you should be aware that having had one warning they will be looking at what you do more closely in all aspects of your performance.

Since you said the news was already being discussed in public, you would have a talk with your supervisor and ask for guidance on how you know what is confidential and what is not. You don't want to cross the line accidendtally again. But really start by not gossiping on company email at all until you better understand what is acceptable and what is not at this company.

Answer 2

Partner or otherwise, you should not have "gossiped" the information. I would take this as a lesson learned.

As a general rule of thumb it is not advisable to share information with others at work that do not have a need to know.

Additionally, the email system is a tool that belongs to the company and it is their right to snoop, so don't assume anything there is confidential. You are probably fine with casual stuff, but anything of a personal nature or company politics or is this case staff decisions should be kept for in person or on personal email.

Answer 3

Yes this seems a little harsh to be singled out, although I would find your supervisor's support encouraging.

I think management are warning you in case this ever happens with a scenario where the data is actually sensitive. Imagine if your partner hadn't already known and accidentally let something slip. While this may be a casual sounding company from their IT policy, don't get too complacent.

Answer 4

What you did was indeed wrong. You shouldn't share confidential information with people you have private relations with.

However, depending on where in the world you work, it might be a breach of privacy when your employer monitors your email, especially when it's done systematically. You might want to do some research about how work email confidentiality is handled in your specific jurisdiction.

But note that no matter if the email monitoring was legal or not: two wrongs don't make a right. It does not change the fact that you shared confidential information you were not allowed to share.

Answer 5

Don't use your work email account for anything other than work.

If you're allowed to use mobile phones at your desk, you can always use that for messaging or have private conversations only during breaks.

Keep in mind, if they're monitoring your email this closely they probably have CCTV running as well, so they might pick up bits and pieces through that too.

It probably is best if you keep personal topics off the workplace.

Seems like big brother is watching you closely...not uncommon these days.

Answer 6

Management keeps info about departures of personnel confidential. It doesn't matter if you learned that Jo Blow is leaving from reading what was written on a bathroom wall - the info on Joe Blow's departure is still confidential. As far management is concerned, confidential info remains confidential info no matter how you learned it including reading it from the front page of the New York Times. So, if management hauls you in to spend quality time with them, the only thing they care about is that the info is confidential and that you breached that confidentiality. It does not matter that 50 million people also did. The difference is that they can't get their hands on 50 million people. But they can get their hands on you and that's why you're getting smacked. Is it unfair? Yes, and your point being?

Next time that you want to talk scuttlebutt undisturbed, use your cell phone and text from it.