Email Acceptable Use Policy
Purpose
Email is a critical mechanism for business communications at Thompson Holdings Incorporated. However, use of Thompson Holdings Incorporated electronic mail systems and services are a privilege, and therefore must be used with respect and in accordance with the policies and goals of Thompson Holdings Incorporated.
The objectives of this policy are to outline appropriate and inappropriate use of Thompson Holdings Incorporated email systems and services in order to minimize disruptions to services and activities, as well as comply with applicable policies and laws.
Scope
This policy applies to all email systems and services owned by Thompson Holdings Incorporated, all email account users/holders at Thompson Holdings Incorporated (both temporary and permanent) and all company email records.
Policy Statements
1. Email access at Thompson Holdings Incorporated is controlled through individual accounts and passwords. Each user of Thompson Holdings Incorporated email system is required to read and sign a copy of this Email Acceptable Use Policy prior to receiving access to email. It is the responsibility of the employee to protect the confidentiality of their account and password information.
2. All employees of Thompson Holdings Incorporated will receive an email account. Email accounts will be granted to third-party non-employees on a case-by-case basis.
3. Applications for these temporary accounts must be submitted to the Information Team. All terms, conditions and restrictions governing email use must be in a written and signed agreement.
4. Email access will be terminated when the employee or third party terminates their association with Thompson Holdings Incorporated, unless other arrangements are made. Thompson Holdings Incorporated is under no obligation to store or forward the contents of an individual’s email inbox/outbox after the term of their employment has ceased.
5. Thompson Holdings Incorporated often delivers official communications via email. As a result, employees of Thompson Holdings Incorporated with email accounts are expected to check their email in a consistent and timely manner so that they are aware of important company announcements and updates, as well as for fulfilling business and role-oriented tasks.
6. Email users are responsible for mailbox management, including organization and cleaning. Email related to projects should be saved to the project folders. Your email is not a permanent storage device for emails. Sent and deleted emails should be deleted every 90 days.
7. Email users are expected to remember that email sent from the company’s email accounts reflects on the company. Please comply with normal standards of professional and personal courtesy and conduct.
8. Email users are not to give the impression that they are representing or providing opinions on behalf of Thompson Holdings Incorporated unless otherwise authorized.
9. Employees at Thompson Holdings Incorporated are encouraged to use email to further the goals and objectives of Thompson Holdings Incorporated. The types of activities that are encouraged include:
· Communicating with fellow employees, vendors and business partners of Thompson Holdings Incorporated and clients within the context of an individual’s assigned responsibilities.
· Acquiring or sharing information necessary or related to the performance of an individual’s assigned responsibilities.
10. Thompson Holdings Incorporated email systems and services are not to be used for purposes that could be reasonably expected to strain storage or bandwidth (e.g. emailing large attachments instead of pointing to a location on a shared drive). Individual email use should not interfere with others’ use and enjoyment of Thompson Holdings Incorporated email system and services.
11. Email use at Thompson Holdings Incorporated will comply with all applicable laws, all Thompson Holdings Incorporated policies and all Thompson Holdings Incorporated contracts. Use in a manner that is not consistent with the mission of Thompson Holdings Incorporated, that misrepresents Thompson Holdings Incorporated or that violates any Thompson Holdings Incorporated policy is prohibited.
12. The following activities are deemed inappropriate uses of Thompson Holdings Incorporated email systems and services, and are strictly prohibited. Inappropriate use includes, but is not limited to:
· Use of email for illegal or unlawful purposes, including copyright infringement, obscenity, libel, slander, fraud, defamation, plagiarism, harassment, intimidation, forgery, impersonation, soliciting for illegal pyramid schemes and computer tampering (e.g. spreading of computer viruses).
· Employees will NOT use personal email accounts on Thompson Holdings Incorporated systems (PCs or laptops). Personal email can only be used on smart phones, Android devices or iPads that are NOT connected to Thompson Holdings Incorporated’s internal network. These devices can connect to the TE-Guest network for Internet access.
· Viewing, copying, altering or deletion of email accounts or files belonging to another individual without authorized permission.
· Sending of unreasonably large email attachments. The total size of an individual email message sent (including attachment) should be 5MB or less.
· Opening email attachments from unknown or unsigned sources. Attachments are the primary source of computer viruses (ransomware) and should be treated with the utmost caution.
· Sharing email account passwords with another person or attempting to obtain another person’s email account password. Email accounts are only to be used by the registered user.
· Excessive personal use of Thompson Holdings Incorporated email resources. Thompson Holdings Incorporated allows limited personal use for communication with family and friends, independent learning and public service so long as it does not interfere with staff productivity, pre-empt any business activity or consume more than a trivial amount of resources. Thompson Holdings Incorporated prohibits personal use of its email systems and services for unsolicited mass mailings, non-Thompson Holdings Incorporated commercial activity, political campaigning, dissemination of chain letters and use by non-employees.
13. The email systems and services used at Thompson Holdings Incorporated are owned by the company, and are therefore its property. This gives Thompson Holdings Incorporated the right to monitor any and all email traffic passing through its email system. This monitoring may include, but is not limited to, inadvertent reading by IT staff during the normal course of managing the email system, review by the legal team during the email discovery phase of litigation, observation by management in cases of suspected abuse or to monitor employee efficiency.
14. Archival and backup copies of email messages may exist, despite end-user deletion, in compliance with Thompson Holdings Incorporated records retention policy. The goals of these backup and archiving procedures are to ensure system reliability, prevent business data loss, meet regulatory and litigation needs and to provide business intelligence.
· Backup copies exist primarily to restore service in case of failure. Archival copies are designed for quick and accurate access by company delegates for a variety of management and legal needs. Both backups and archives are governed by the company’s document retention policies.
15. If Thompson Holdings Incorporated discovers or has good reason to suspect activities that do not comply with applicable laws or this policy, email records may be retrieved and used to document the activity in accordance with due process.
16. Use extreme caution when communicating confidential or sensitive information via email. Keep in mind that all email messages sent outside of Thompson Holdings Incorporated become the property of the receiver. Consider not communicating anything that you wouldn’t feel comfortable being made public. Demonstrate particular care when using the “Reply All” command during email correspondence to ensure the resulting message is not delivered to unintended recipients.
17. Any allegations of misuse should be promptly reported to the Director of Human Resource and IT. If you receive an offensive email, do not forward, delete or reply to the message. Instead, report it directly to Human Resources.
18. Thompson Holdings Incorporated assumes no liability for direct and/or indirect damages arising from the user’s use of Thompson Holdings Incorporated email system and services. Users are solely responsible for the content they disseminate. Thompson Holdings Incorporated is not responsible for any third-party claim, demand or damage arising out of the use of Thompson Holdings Incorporated email systems or services.
Non-Compliance
Violations of this policy will be treated like other allegations of wrongdoing at Thompson Holdings Incorporated. Allegations of misconduct will be adjudicated according to established procedures. Sanctions for non-compliance may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following:
1. Temporary or permanent revocation of email access.
2. Disciplinary action according to applicable Thompson Holdings Incorporated policies.
3. Termination of employment.
4. Legal action according to applicable laws and contractual agreements.
Agreement
I have read and understand the Email Acceptable Use Policy. I understand that if I violate the rules explained herein, I may face legal or disciplinary action according to applicable laws or company policy.
___________________________________________
Employee Name
___________________________________________ _______________________________________
Employee Signature Date