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?

In some larger organisations esp in financial services every comms channel is recorded and searched (usually via a piece of software) with keywords flagged. To identify and prevent crime e.g. insider trading. It would be odd for all comms to be actively reviewed by an actual person (what a waste of company time), but any employee should be aware that there is a possibility that what they say and write at work may be monitored.

You need to read the IT policy/social media policy etc.

I assume employers can read anything I write using apps in the workplace. This is not a new thing. To think you have privacy at work seems unwise IMO.

Yeah, I'm in the IT dept, although am not the person with access to this kind of stuff and it will be stated in an IT policy somewhere. Naive beyond belief to think that anything like that is private, the IT team have access to ANYTHING on a work network. Including deleted stuff usually.
It's not that people would routinely read this stuff, but if any disciplinary thing came up, it can be investigated. Some places might automatically flag keywords as well.

There is no reasonable expectation of privacy at all on a work system.

I can't understand why people would need to be explicitly told that these aren't private before they exercised some caution. Surely it goes without saying that you don't write anything on a work-related platform that you wouldn't want presented back to you in an HR meeting?

I'm surprised everyone thinks it's written into contracts or policies. I used to write both of those as part of my HR job and it really wasn't specified. The only clause that could cover it would be the standard bit about using computers for work purposes only.

It doesn't actually have to be in writing for an employer to be able to do it. Always assume they are watching you everywhere except the toilet!

You definitely need to start reading your employers policies. Nothing you share on Teams/Skype or email whichever platforms your company uses is private and nothing you delete is ever truly gone. I’ve posted before how some chats between me and a colleague were used as part of an investigation. Thankfully I hadn’t said anything to get myself in trouble and had a good relationship with my manager, but the colleague had said some awful things about our manager which the manager read as part of the investigation process and she was eventually dismissed.
Never put anything in writing that you wouldn’t want read out in an employment tribunal. And never use full names if you are saying anything negative in case someone makes a subject access request.

I dont think its fair to call people naive. A lot of people just dont know things.

I just looked through my employee handbook, my IT policy and our data protection policy.

There is nothing about the company owning all information or having the right to access all information.

I know that all chats are accessed, but thats only because my colleague told me

Everyone seems to think IT is encrypted or somehow unreadable. It really isn't. WhatsApp supposedly encrypted which is why Govts want to access it. But day to day stuff at work is readable. Unless you say something bad you should be ok but assume anything you say may be read and used against you.

The Teams platform is integrated into MS 365 (Teams, email, OneDrive, SharePoint) and default retention is 30 days however most companies would have take backups to store for longer. These backups can be searched usually IT staff but could be accessed by others.

Yeah its definitely not in any of my policies.

I will assume that they are watching/ monitoring every key stroke

I’ve always assumed that they could if they wanted to so never, ever write anything that could land me in hot water.

As a previous poster said, don't chat about anything that you wouldn't want shared in a court. Even work chat groups set up in WhatsApp can and have been used during trials

I doubt the managers are routinely reading the team chats, so it's likely just coincidence. But if there was a good reason for a manager to be given access to emails/chats it could certainly be done - say if someone left very suddenly and their comms needed to be checked to see what was outstanding etc. Or a misconduct issue. It's likely the manager would need to request and be given special permission though.

I’ve always assumed both Teams chats & emails on work email can be accessed by management. I’m very careful about what I send. I also think you need to be careful with WhatsApp as people sometimes tell tales & it’s evidence which they might send on to someone if they feel like it. I don’t actually think it’s appropriate to use Teams chat to moan about job/management. I’m surprised that you are surprised.

I believe that they have to have a good reason for reading them. It is a breach of privacy, no matter whether it is work related or not. I used to work in IT and it would have been gross misconduct for me to have looked at emails/chats etc.

The fact that your contract does not state this is irrelevant but I would ask the question of HR.

They can and will have software tracking it all.

Incorrect. They will be recording everything. You are using a work account - not a personal account. They own it all and can read it all.

They are recording everything but i believe that IT cant access everything without a reason to do it

Eg they cant access everyones work email just to have a nosy,

But they could probably access emails to use in a disciplianary hearing

They can access whatever they want if you’re using a work account. The employer owns all of the content not you.

They can access whatever they want.

You shouldn’t be using a work account for personal communications of any nature. Ever.

There will be someone in IT who can, yes. Your line manager, however, likely cannot just pull up your Teams dashboard and have a little lookey look. Their Teams looks exactly like yours does. But if there are HR or safeguarding issues, yes, they would be able to request to go sit with someone in IT and look at them.

My line manager barely had time for loo breaks though and didn’t even read any of the emails or Teams messages I actually sent her. There is no way she would be reading other people’s messages just to see what they were up to. If there was a situation though, and she could find the building that houses IT, she technically could look at them though.

No the IT team cant access whatever they want, if they don't have a reason to do it!

An IT worker has just come on this thread and written that. She wrote that she is not allowed to access everything