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Subject:RE: How many have this problem at work? From:"Carnall, Jane" <Jane -dot- Carnall -at- compaq -dot- com> To:"'TECHWR-L'" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 17 Apr 2000 12:19:17 +0100
>>my boss does not want me to receive any more messages from outside
>>the company. please stop sending me messages/take me off the list,
>>when i get a personal account, i'll let you know.
I got this message too, and was rather annoyed, as the sender had obviously
set up an auto-return: I've never mailed him individually, so presumably
everyone who posted to TECHWR-L got this message. I've often got messages
from TECHWR-L subscribers who set up auto-returns: I don't have this problem
with any other list I'm subscribed to.
Marc A. Santacroce wrote:
>I'm wondering if the above policy is common. I certainly find lists,
>and this list in particular extremely helpful. I wouldn't work for a
>company that put this this kind of a lid on internet use.
In my experience of UK IT companies, it's fairly common, though it is often
down to the individual manager to enforce general company policies. Normally
the rule is "only work-related use". If your manager tells you to stop
wasting your time reading messages sent from outside the company, are *you*
going to tell them that they're packed full of useful info that may possibly
contradict their cherished opinions? Particularly as no mailing list, except
perhaps those that focus on one tool only, will ever be entirely free of
non-work-related information.
I only sign up to receive work-related mailing lists at work. At home, I
have half-a-dozen non-work-related (and not-possibly-work-related) mailing
lists, and I know that a bunch of the Americans on these lists receive them
at work. Fun though it would be, I wouldn't risk it: ever. While UK
employment law does allow for employees using their employer's phone for
personal reasons during the working day, it has been established that using
their employer's internet connection for personal reasons is a sackable
offense: and this is often specifically mentioned in terms of employment.
But there are exceptions all over: I interviewed for a job with one company
where the programming department manager, discovering I'm an sf fan, spent
part of the interview telling me about how for a while everyone in his
department was downloading the SWE1:TPM trailer...
Jane Carnall
Technical Writer, Compaq, UK
Unless stated otherwise, these opinions are mine, and mine alone.
