What to Include in an Electronic Communications Policy in England

As we are now working in a time where electronic communications are part of our everyday life, it is essential that you put in place workplace policies that manage your employees’ use of electronic communications. Your staff will likely use various communications technology to fulfil their job responsibilities, such as the telephone or email. Therefore, your employees need to know what they can and cannot do when communicating electronically. In this instance, you can use a workplace policy to ensure you cover your legal requirements regarding data protection laws. This article explains what you should include in your electronic communications policy.

What is an Electronic Communications Policy?

An electronic communications policy is a guideline that sets out how your staff can use technology in the workplace. Your policy should be sufficient to cover data protection law requirements and give clear examples of ways to use and not to use technology. When your team understands what you expect, they can often work more effectively.

Key Points to Include in an Electronic Communications Policy

There are some critical pieces of information your policy should contain. In addition to basics such as who enforces the policy and who the policy applies to, your policy may contain the following provisions.

1. The Purpose of the Policy 

It is a good idea to clarify the purpose of your policy from the outset. You may begin by clarifying why your staff need to access technology and state that the policy is not an exclusive list of all situations. You may state what the policy will explain, including what actions you take when your staff do not abide by it. This way, your employees can better understand why the policy is in place. 

2. Use of Communications Systems for Private Communications 

Your policy should clarify how and when your staff may use technology for personal discussions. It could be as flexible or as detailed as you see fit. For example, your policy may clarify email size limits to clients or telephone numbers that can and cannot be accessed, such as overseas numbers. 

Detailing how your staff can use your communications systems for personal use also applies to your:

• phone system;
• mobile phones that staff have access to; 
• email systems; and
• internet access.

3. Use of Website Material 

Your policy should detail how your staff can access the internet to view and copy material. While you would want to ban the viewing and copying of offensive material, you need to be clear on what constitutes offensive material. Therefore, listing offensive material such as nude images and racist language is helpful. This way, an employee is clear about what material they can and cannot access. 

4. How to Conduct Electronic Communications 

Your policy should indicate how your staff should conduct themselves when communicating electronically. For example, your policy can explain: 

• the tone your employee should adopt when writing to clients; and
• whether or not your employees should include a standard disclaimer and business signatures in their communications.

5. Including Personal Information 

Additionally, your electronic communications policy must clarify the personal information that employees can or cannot include. If your employees should not reveal their personal information, your policy should outline any alternatives they may use instead. 

6. Use of Electronic Communications Outside the Workplace 

Your staff will likely need communication equipment if they work from home. For example, they may have to dial into your business network. It would be best if you clarified what they are allowed and not allowed to do regarding personal use of electronic communications equipment. 

7. Security Issues 

Security issues can arise when your staff access technology, so it is important to spell these out in your policy. This includes making sure they understand their:

• responsibility for the security of their electronic equipment, such as passwords; 
• confidentiality requirements, particularly when using other peoples’ electronic communications;
• inability to intercept and monitor other electronic communications unless they have permission; and
• obligation not to use login details and passwords of other people. 

8. Rules on Monitoring Your Employees’ Use 

If you monitor your staff’s technology use, you should ensure that you detail this within your electronic communications policy. This can include: 

• the reasons why you monitor your employees’ use of electronic communications equipment;
• the extent of your monitoring; and
• how you will use your monitoring results.

9. Enforcement 

While your policy may look good on paper, it is only effective if you properly enforce it. Therefore, your policy should detail how you will enforce it and the actions you may take where your staff breaches it, such as the penalties you may issue. 

Key Takeaways

As an employer, you should consider implementing an electronic communications policy. This can help your business comply with data protection laws and allows you to clarify what your staff can and cannot do when using technology. Amongst other issues, your policy should detail how your staff can make personal use of technology. Your policy should also clarify how employees can and cannot use personal information. Further, when you monitor your staff’s use of technology, having a policy is helpful to effectively communicate why you monitor staff and how you will use the monitoring results.

If you need help drafting an electronic communications policy in England and Wales, our experienced employment lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents for a low monthly fee. So call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.

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