21% of employee e-mail subpoenaed by courts & regulators. 13% of companies battled lawsuits triggered by employee e-mail. 65% of companies lack e-mail retention policies. 94% of companies fail to retain & archive IM. 46% of companies offer employees NO e-mail policy training. 50% of workplace IM users send/receive in risky content including attachments, jokes, gossip, confidential info, porn. Source: 2004 Workplace E-Mail and IM Survey from American Management Association and The ePolicy Institute. CLICK HERE for Survey Results. Click here for Information Week Survey Coverage

Reduce Liability

Over the past several years, email has been rapidly taking on a new name, “EVIDENCE”! Email is a legal document much like any other document leaving the company on corporate letterhead yet due to the informal nature upon which it can be used, sometimes it can create a tremendous amount of corporate liability. An email sent from one nurse to another on the hospital computer system read, “Did you see how DR.XXXX botched that operation? It will be a miracle if that patient lives”. Today, the first item usually subpoenaed by opposing legal council during a lawsuit is any email pertaining to the case. Sometimes it may cost a corporation more to do the necessary discovery than it would to settle the case. One Fortune 500 company was ordered to search more than 20,000 back-up tapes at a cost of $1,000 per tape. That's $20 million spent before the case went to trial. 27% of Fortune 500 companies have defended themselves against claims of sexual harassment stemming from inappropriate eMail and/or Internet use.

It is important today that every company limit their liability through the development and implementation of effective email, Internet, and software policies. The policy must be written and signed by every employee, and most of all, the policy must be enforced. Each employee must be made aware that the email system belongs to the company. It should be made clear how much personal use of the email and Internet, if any, will be allowed. If the company intends to monitor employee email, which it has the right to do, the employees must be made aware of that policy. The company’s policy on discrimination and sexual harassment should be incorporated into the written e-policy.

eDoxs, through its association with the ePolicy Institute, can assist any size organization to develop their e-policy, train managers and employees, provide seminars, and supply handbooks and news bulletins.