I got a letter from an ex-colleague this morning. It contained a brief note and a tenner for the lottery – he’s still in the syndicate. The letter was fully opened when I picked it up from the in-tray. I wound up our receptionist at first saying there should have been a tenner in here. She said there was and still is a tenner in there. So she’s opened the envelope, been through the contents and put it back. So I had a discussion about this and voices were raised (a bit). A senior manager came out and asked if there was a problem. I explained and he said it’s company policy to open all mail.

What’s the crack with this? It’s not written down in the T&Cs of E.

Any advice?

Ta

Fairly standard unless marked private and confidential I would have thought.

If it says private and confidential or addressee only then they shouldn’t open it.

Otherwise, it’s fair game.

Yes. Unless marked P & C. How are they supposed to know it is personal ? Get personal mail sent to your house. The work/life distinction is getting far too blurred IYAM…

I get all my parcels sent to work as there is always someone there to sign for them.
It’s quite common to find someone has opened all the envelopes without reading the name first, then passed it on to me when they realise it’s mine.
I don’t find it a problem, nothing’s ever gone missing.

I once had a bottle of whisky sent to me from another branch of the company I was working for, as a thank you for helping them out with something. As our branch was brand new, they sent it to head office so’s they could send it on to me, as we din’t technically have an address yet. Head office must have opened it.

I eventually received an empty box. 🙁

That’s theft, no?

If your sending it to work your making it their business too. So you cant complain too much if they open it. Its not there job to handle your personal mail so their doing that free for you.

However its funny how much views differ on this.

Some people seem to think opening someone else mail is akin to murder and should be punished as so.

Where as, its never occurred to me it was particularly important. Most mail is just junk anyhow.

When I’ve lived in shared houses you obviously get sent mail for previous tenants. Some of the current tenants have thought opening their mail was a seriously breach of privacy. Where as I thought if there still getting mail sent to their old house it cant be too important, is probably junk and its the previous tenants fault for not getting their address changed.

Therefore I always open it to check its not something important before generally chucking/recycling it. Once it was a letter from some baliffs for the old tenant, which to be fair to the baliffs was quickly sorted, but if we hadnt opened it we’d have never known.

Well, again, any gift you receive in the course of your work should be declared, and a decision made on allocation. Most organizations have a policy on this. Casting my mind back I think there is some HMRC reason for that. Limit around £30 ??

So yes Elfin the whisky was stolen, but not from you !!

As i understand it, employers can open mail if you’re sending it from work upto the point it enters the Royal Mail system, unless it is marked P&C. Once mail enters the RM system it is illegal for anyone other than the addressee to open it.

+1 hels, surely work has ownership of all work related mail. Personal mail to personal address unless you have a previously arranged agreement.

Yes it is. Next

So yes Elfin the whisky was stolen, but not from you !!

It effing well was.

Not to worry; I stole goods from that employer many times the value of the whisky, as compensation. And fiddled a load of time off sick, on full pay… 😀

A friend of mine (a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away) was peeved with her employer, so she stole a roll of toilet paper every day until she had what she reckoned she was owed. Can’t do that any more with these modern Trust Nobody dispenser thingies.

Yeah you can; just jam a screwdriver into the lock mechanism, they’re only flimsy. Opens easily then.