Do you think that employers read microsoft teams chats?

[Larna4t]

I don't mean group chats , I mean 1-1 chats between employees. My colleague in my last workplace was absolutely convinced of it. She said that her boss would bring up things that she had said in 1-1 chats with colleagues.

Can workplaces access all team chats as it is a work communicatiom, even 1-1 chats?

Yes they can access all chats that take place on the platform. Always wise to slag off your boss on WhatsApp or something 🤣

Most of the time it's very unlikely that they would bother - the vast majority of it is bibble that nobody has the time for. But do they have the capacity to access and track anything you do on a work system, absolutely, yes. You should never email or Teams anything you don't want to have to defend in a disciplinary on work systems.

It's very unlikely that your manager would bother reading your colleague's Teams messages unless they're unusually controlling and paranoid, so my money would be on your colleague being a bit paranoid themselves, but does the capacity exist, absolutely. Usually nobody goes looking unless there's a reason, but they can read it if they want to.

Yes. Google it. So be careful what you say. Depending on what policies there are you might not be monitored esp with a lot of employees
Also people have been known to take screenshots before chats were deleted.

Yes, they can.

Also, if someone makes a subject access request, chat transcripts are checked as well.

Basically, particularly when it comes to work based comms, never put anything in writing you wouldn’t want read out in court.

Thanks for the answers. I think a lot of people are under the impression that because they are private chats - they are private.

It was only when my colleague said it in my last job, that i started to realise that they were not private at all.

She also has thought they were private until her boss said something to her that had been in a private chat. Then she realised.

Yep.

I've been the person in my last 3 jobs who has access to all of the Microsoft backend stuff.

Not had to do it in this job yet, but in both of my last two jobs I had to access Teams chats for disciplinary purposes.

None of these three jobs have had management having a nose just for the sake of it, but it does happen, and it's perfectly legal. Teams is a work communication tool, so nothing you say on there can be considered private.

Yes.
Larger employers might - just for example - use the data (anonymised or not) to monitor certain keywords so they can gain an understanding of who is sharing information internally on upcoming tests and qualifications.

In smaller orgs you should assume the IT dept reads everything although in practice they might not unless you draw attention to yourself in some way.

Yeah i understand now

But do you not think that this should be clearly explained to people

I know several people who thought 1-1 chats were private, then theu were caught slagging off their boss/complaining about their job whatever.

If companies clearly stated that they have access to all teams chats, nobody would ever type something like that

Its like they are trying to catch you out.

I think there’s a difference between ‘can your employer access MS Teams chat’ and ‘can your own manager routinely access MS Teams chat’. Certainly at my workplace. Yes ICT could access chat with a good reason, eg a subject access request or disciplinary. But as a manager I can’t just dip into Teams chats out of curiosity.

Check your IT policy.

But do you not think that this should be clearly explained to people

It's probably in the contracts and in the company handbook.

Sounds more likely that people aren't reading their contracts, handbooks or policies..

Completely agree though never write anything in an email or a Teams chat that you couldn’t justify if the person you’re talking about or your manager or employer saw it.

Teams is no different to email. People who think it is need to wise up.

Saying that, mine is mostly gifs 😂

It's usually in your contract somewhere, and often in the company handbook as well, but of course a lot of people don't read those as closely as they should.

I think most people assume its common knowledge, its not something I'd highlight to people as a matter of course.

Then they are a bit dim tbh. Work systems can always be accessed by management.

It will be in contracts/handbook/it access policy. Employees do have a responsibility to read their employment documentation, but so many of them don't. Work systems belong to the company and no one should be so naive as to think it is as private as non-work comms.

It's never been in any of my work contracts. I read them very thoroughly.

I looked at my current contract there now
There is no mention of teams or internal communications at all in my contract

And we use teams a lot in my job

It will likely be captured in an acceptable use policy or similar.
I think it's a bit naive to think that work IMs are private - work emails aren't so why would a chat be?

Sorry OP I don't have a lot of sympathy for this one. If an employee is slagging off their boss using the company IT systems I would think they are any or all of:
(a) lacking political nous
(b) wanting the boss to read it (sort of like a hamfisted piece of employee feedback)
(c) a bit of a dimbo

I looked at my current contract there now
There is no mention of teams or internal communications at all in my contract

It won’t be specified like that though. It’s usually written in legalese and will make some sort of reference to the employer owning all information in company systems. That covers all your internal mail systems and Teams. They own the information means they can do what they like with it in terms of accessing it, viewing it, extracting it etc.

It will most definitely be somewhere in the documentation people are obliged to read - usually IT systems and access policy, or handbook if it's a smaller org.

You don't have an expectation of privacy at work. Your employer owns the building, they own the computer, they own the software, they own what you do on company time. If you don't read the policies you've agreed to and break your employer's rules on systems they've paid for you to have access to, you really only have yourself to blame.

I'm management, and my fellow directors can barely arsed to speak to any of the operational teams let alone bother spying on our convos.

But somebody once complained to me in Teams that our IT support (one key individual was named) was rubbish and loads of people still couldn't access the shared folders. I sympathised, said that person was very busy but I also didn't understand why the access hadn't been sorted out properly.

Within 30 minutes the (very lovely but super busy) IT person emailed me saying ""Who has a problem with shared access folders?"

Yikes. I replied "Oi, stop reading our Teams bitch sessions!" She replied with "😉".

Local authority here and yes they have access to teams chats…

They can also monitor every key stroke apparently and did during Covid

They also monitor internet searches, someone in another department got into trouble for spending too much time online shopping!

Added to which, unless it's a very small organisation, UK GDPR will apply and you should have had Data Protection training, plus the company will have policies on communications.

They can definitely read them if they want to.
I had to read lots of them in a previous role as they were part of a disclosure for litigation. So not only can your employer read them but it, for example, you talk about a colleague,.then those messages may have to be disclosed to that colleague/their lawyer etc (and will therefore inevitably be read by a of people including senior people)

Don't put it in writing unless you would be happy to hear it read out in court