A third of office workers have been sent sexually explicit or racist material by colleagues, while 7% say they have e-mailed company-confidential information outside their organisation, according to a new survey.
The poll of more than 2,000 UK employees, commissioned by security specialist Clearswift, suggests that even though most employees are generally aware that sending inappropriate e-mails could be dangerous to their company, abuse of e-mail systems continues regardless.
“The amount of inappropriate content making its way round UK businesses’ e-mail systems is astounding,” said Jon Lee, chief executive of Clearswift. “Employees need to stop and think about the trouble they could get in if these e-mails got into the wrong hands.”
According to the survey, only 10% of respondents said their organisation had sacked an employee for sending inappropriate e-mails.
Many companies do have an e-mail policy, but the survey found that just half of respondents fully understood their employer’s guidelines. One in ten did not understand their company’s policy, 24% said that their companies did not have a policy, and 15% of respondents did not know either way.
Emma Grossmith, an employment law specialist with Pinsent Masons, said employers cannot afford to ignore e-mail and computer misuse. “Apart from the potential disaster of confidential information being leaked, employers run a real risk of being sued if e-mails sent to or from their employees are discriminatory or defamatory.”
The poll of more than 2,000 UK employees, commissioned by security specialist Clearswift, suggests that even though most employees are generally aware that sending inappropriate e-mails could be dangerous to their company, abuse of e-mail systems continues regardless.
"The amount of inappropriate content making its way round UK businesses' e-mail systems is astounding," said Jon Lee, chief executive of Clearswift. "Employees need to stop and think about the trouble they could get in if these e-mails got into the wrong hands."
According to the survey, only 10% of respondents said their organisation had sacked an employee for sending inappropriate e-mails.
Many companies do have an e-mail policy, but the survey found that just half of respondents fully understood their employer's guidelines. One in ten did not understand their company's policy, 24% said that their companies did not have a policy, and 15% of respondents did not know either way.
Emma Grossmith, an employment law specialist with Pinsent Masons, said employers cannot afford to ignore e-mail and computer misuse. "Apart from the potential disaster of confidential information being leaked, employers run a real risk of being sued if e-mails sent to or from their employees are discriminatory or defamatory."
