Companies opening private & confidential letters

ss

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Nov 14, 2014, 7:06:16 PM11/14/14

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What is the legal status of companies opening letters that are addressed
to individuals marked private & confidential? I have googled it and it
appears to be a gray area with no definitive answer.
I have nothing to hide or I would get them sent to my home but it does
irritate me having others open my mail.
If it is legal am I therefore entitled to open my bosses mail?

Pelican

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Nov 14, 2014, 7:59:55 PM11/14/14

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"ss" <wee...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:WNw9w.854504$rQ.1...@fx13.am4...

> What is the legal status of companies opening letters that are addressed
> to individuals marked private & confidential?

That marking has no legal significance. It's rather rude of anyone other
than the addressee to open such a letter, but once the letter arrives at the
address correctly, a person at that address (eg a company) can open it.

> I have googled it and it appears to be a gray area with no definitive
> answer.

It's not a grey area, and the answer is clear enough.

> I have nothing to hide or I would get them sent to my home but it does
> irritate me having others open my mail.

The solution is to get them sent to your home. You have no legal complaint
if you get them sent to another address and some at that address opens them.

> If it is legal am I therefore entitled to open my bosses mail?

If your boss had his mail sent to your address, you may open it legally. It
may be the last thing you do before being fired, of course.

MM

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Nov 15, 2014, 3:18:49 AM11/15/14

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I don't quite see why any employee should have the right to receive
private personal mail while at work. He should be engaged only in
working for his employer, not conducting his own affairs on company
tme or premises.

MM

Martin Brown

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Nov 15, 2014, 3:50:09 AM11/15/14

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On 15/11/2014 08:18, MM wrote:
> On Sat, 15 Nov 2014 00:06:04 +0000, ss <wee...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> What is the legal status of companies opening letters that are addressed
>> to individuals marked private & confidential? I have googled it and it
>> appears to be a gray area with no definitive answer.

Why on earth would you do that anyway?
Few letters are that urgent that they won't keep until you get home.

>> I have nothing to hide or I would get them sent to my home but it does
>> irritate me having others open my mail.
>> If it is legal am I therefore entitled to open my bosses mail?
>
> I don't quite see why any employee should have the right to receive
> private personal mail while at work. He should be engaged only in
> working for his employer, not conducting his own affairs on company
> tme or premises.
>
> MM

It does seem a pretty stupid thing to do.
Perhaps the OP is of no fixed abode?

You can get former colleagues writing to you in a private and
confidential capacity whilst at work either asking for references, just
to say hi and/or try and poach you. More common were Xmas cards from
people who had left - but nothing private and confidential.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

Max Demian

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Nov 15, 2014, 5:34:25 AM11/15/14

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"Pelican" <water...@sea.somewhere.org.ir> wrote in message
news:m468ht$ekp$1...@dont-email.me...

Legally you can open your boss's private mail if it arrives at work. You
won't suffer any consequences if he doesn't find out, as with most things.

--
Max Demian

tim.....

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Nov 15, 2014, 7:54:19 AM11/15/14

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"MM" <kyli...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:803e6a5k5f0pkvl84...@4ax.com...

many years ago, when a student, I did a holiday job in a bank (I bet that
doesn't happen now)

One of my jobs was to deal with all of the statement requests (temp staff
weren't give jobs involving money[1]). many people, it seems, had their
personal account details sent to a work address.

tim

[1] nowadays I suspect that rules on data protection make dealing with
information an even bigger risk that letting you work with cash!

Owain

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Nov 15, 2014, 11:05:34 AM11/15/14

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On Saturday, November 15, 2014 12:06:16 AM UTC, ss wrote:
> What is the legal status of companies opening letters that are addressed
> to individuals marked private & confidential? I have googled it and it
> appears to be a gray area with no definitive answer.
> I have nothing to hide or I would get them sent to my home but it does
> irritate me having others open my mail.

Your employer will determine who has an appropriate level of seniority or discretion to handle P&C mail. This will now be part of their data protection regulatory compliance.

When I worked as a secretary, general mail was opened by the mailroom. P&C mail was opened by the secretary to the individual concerned. "Personal" mail was either unopened, or the envelope slit but the contents not removed, depending on the individual's preference.

Owain

MM

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Nov 15, 2014, 11:50:49 AM11/15/14

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On Sat, 15 Nov 2014 08:50:02 +0000, Martin Brown
<|||newspam|||@nezumi.demon.co.uk> wrote:

>On 15/11/2014 08:18, MM wrote:
>> On Sat, 15 Nov 2014 00:06:04 +0000, ss <wee...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> What is the legal status of companies opening letters that are addressed
>>> to individuals marked private & confidential? I have googled it and it
>>> appears to be a gray area with no definitive answer.
>
>Why on earth would you do that anyway?
>Few letters are that urgent that they won't keep until you get home.
>
>>> I have nothing to hide or I would get them sent to my home but it does
>>> irritate me having others open my mail.
>>> If it is legal am I therefore entitled to open my bosses mail?
>>
>> I don't quite see why any employee should have the right to receive
>> private personal mail while at work. He should be engaged only in
>> working for his employer, not conducting his own affairs on company
>> tme or premises.
>>
>> MM
>
>It does seem a pretty stupid thing to do.
>Perhaps the OP is of no fixed abode?

If so, I doubt he'd be employable in this day and age.

MM

ss

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Nov 15, 2014, 3:05:00 PM11/15/14

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On 15/11/2014 16:05, Owain wrote:
> On Saturday, November 15, 2014 12:06:16 AM UTC, ss wrote:
>> What is the legal status of companies opening letters that are addressed

>> to individuals marked private& confidential? I have googled it and it

>> appears to be a gray area with no definitive answer.
>> I have nothing to hide or I would get them sent to my home but it does
>> irritate me having others open my mail.
>
> Your employer will determine who has an appropriate level of seniority or discretion to handle P&C mail. This will now be part of their data protection regulatory compliance.
>
> When I worked as a secretary, general mail was opened by the mailroom. P&C mail was opened by the secretary to the individual concerned. "Personal" mail was either unopened, or the envelope slit but the contents not removed, depending on the individual's preference.
>
> Owain
>

Thanks for the replies, it kind of clarifies it for me.
The information in the mail is regarding my place of work (not personal
although I could have sent to my home) and my mail is covered mostly by
data protection as it mostly comes under financial services. This was
not an issue before but a new boss who is not licenced to sell the
products is the one opening the mail and tends to leave stuff lying
around, he is also non compliant in a couple of other issues but wont
listen to reason. I say he is my boss but I dont actually report to him
as my line manager is off site.
I am at the moment just getting info so as to cover my back and trying
to get a clear picture as to what areas I should monitor.

harryagain

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Nov 16, 2014, 11:45:55 AM11/16/14

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"tim....." <tims_n...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:ccp0no...@mid.individual.net...

Obviously didn't want their partners to know their information.