Introduction
We provide our staff with IT equipment and accounts required for the role and this should only be used for work purposes. If personal usage is found to be excessive or distracting you from your work, disciplinary action may be taken.
The use of email, other online communication platforms and the internet is vital for our work, however we recognise that their use does entail some risks. For example, you must take care not to introduce viruses to the system and must take proper account of the security advice below. You must also ensure that you do not send untrue statements about others in emails or other work communication methods as we could face legal action for libel and be liable for damages.
Emails that you intend to send should be checked carefully. Email should be treated like any other form of written communication and, as such, what is normally regarded as unacceptable in a letter is equally unacceptable in an email communication.
The use of email to send or forward messages that are defamatory, obscene or otherwise inappropriate will be treated as misconduct under the appropriate disciplinary procedure. In serious cases this could be regarded as gross misconduct and lead to summary dismissal.
Equally, if you receive an obscene or defamatory email, whether unwittingly or otherwise and from whatever source, you should not forward it to any other address and, if appropriate, make your manager or HR aware of it.
Copying in Others (cc-ing)
Please exercise care not to copy emails automatically to all those copied in to the original message to which you are replying. Doing so may result in disclosure of confidential information to the wrong person and clog up peoples email with unnecessary information.
Attachments
You should exercise extreme care when receiving emails with attachments from third parties, particularly unidentified third parties, as these may contain viruses. If in doubt, notify our IT support and don’t open the attachment nor forward it to anyone else.
Downloading files and software
Employees should download files on to only those PCs with virus checking software and should check how long the download will take. If there is any uncertainty as to whether or not the software is virus-free or whether the time the download will take is reasonable, the relevant line manager and IT Support should be consulted.
If your require additional software which is not provided, you should seek the permission of our IT providers.
Monitoring of IT access
We reserve the right to monitor employees' IT usage (personal or work related) using work hardware or accounts, but will endeavour to inform an affected employee when this is to happen and the reasons for it. We consider the following to be valid reasons for checking an employee's internet usage:
- If we suspect that the employee has been viewing offensive or illegal material, such as material containing racist terminology or nudity.
- If we suspect that the employee has been spending an excessive amount of time viewing websites that are not work related.
You should be aware that any emails and files in your accounts can be accessed in certain circumstances by the Diocesan Secretary and Finance Director. Any data held in our systems is the property of the organisation and therefore if an individual requests a copy of the data that is held about them, we are under a legal obligation to disclose any data we hold relating to them – and this will be completed without reference back to the employees whose accounts may contain this information. Therefore it is important that any reference to identifiable individuals is factual and non-prejudicial as this could be disclosed.
Equipment
The organisation insures all equipment against loss and if this occurs you must immediately report this to the Finance Team in order to have data on your device remotely wiped, so a claim may be made and a replacement device requested. You will be required to provide full details of the loss to the organisation promptly, or else you may be held liable.
All equipment must be kept safe and secure and protected from damage. Any damage to devices from accident or beyond reasonable wear-and-tear may be charged back to the employee as a deduction from wages.
General
The aim of these rules is to be helpful and to set guidelines on the use of IT services at work for the smooth and efficient running of our organisation.
If there is anything in these rules that you consider to be unworkable or you do not understand, you should notify your manager.
If you are using self-employed contractors, agency workers or any other individuals working temporarily in the team or department for which you are responsible, you should make them aware of the rules regarding the use of email and the internet.