...for being a little pi$$ed at this...?

[Mellodrama]

I've just msgd my DP (of 8 months) to ask if he could print some PDF's for me at work, as my own printer has just given up the ghost and I can't get out to access another right now - these are doc's for Uni which I could really do with asap and he usually comes to mine of a Friday evening so thought he could bring them.

Anyway, he said no problem and gave me his personal (Sky) address, only he has to wait to use his mum's printer before coming to mine, instead of just using the one at work. This happened a few months ago, too, where for some reason, he was hesitant to give me his work email add and I'm now wondering why - does he not trust me? He works for the government so does he think maybe we might split and I'll give his email add out?

I know this may sound a bit daft, but why would he not just give me his works email?

He’s probably not allowed to use his work email and printer for personal stuff.

My dh works a government job, and his emails are monitored. He would be in trouble for doing personal printing at work.

Because he's not allowed to?

He probably isn’t allowed to use it for personal things. Or to use the printer for personal things.

He is doing it and going out of the way for it. I can’t see why that’s an issue

Because work email is for work?

His work may not allow him to print personal documents. His work may not allow him to receive personal email. It's quite a leap to ask if you can't trust him because of this....

Some companies are really strict about use of work email for personal purposes. I cannot send or receive emails from web based email addresses (Gmail, Hotmail etc). I cannot access them from my work laptop.

We also have our printing monitored, so they can check we are not abusing the systems. I don't know how often they do it, but they have the option.

I work for the government, most incoming external email is screened-personal emails are a no-no as is printing off personal items. Keep in mind the paper in the printer is paid for by the public...

Yes what pp said especially government as well. Unlikely he's allowed to randomly print personal stuff.

Maybe he is not allowed to print at work (even a few pages does cost the company money....)

What about a library?

More than likely not allowed to use the printer for personal use.

Erm ... some (lots) of companies don't like personal email being sent to work, and some (lots) of bosses would be pissed at someone using works resources for personal use.
Sounds like he's being sensible and not jeopardising his job?!

Ooh! That is the sort of thing you get summarily sacked for! It is, after all, stealing... time and resources. Not to mention abuse of work email.

I think you owe him a virtual apology for having thought poorly of him

My DP works for the government and he's not allowed to use his email for personal reasons. I couldn't either when I worked for the RAF. Don't take it personally. I'm sure he's just following work rules.

You can swear on MN.

Did you mean pissed off, are are you actually drunk?

Because he shouldn't be using his work emails/printer for personal stuff? I would have thought thatvthat was obvious.

Yep, emails at work are often monitored. Especially if they have attachments. He may feel awkward about telling you not to email him at work.

Normal to not be able to receive attachments from personal accounts at work.

Aah, thanks guys, I didn't realise in government jobs your emails are screened, etc. It's just with him always telling me it's so laid back where he works

He’s not allowed to print off personal documents at work.

It stealing and misconduct at my work.

The IT department at my company can “see” individual documents, there’s no way of printing anything sneakily.

He’s probably also not really allowed personal emails hence not giving you his work email.

Why are you so annoyed? He solved your problem at the expense of potentially inconveniencing his mother. I hope you said thank you to both of them.

Just in case it's not clear, it's probably because he's not allowed to or his emails are monitored! Your poor DP, don't give him a hard time!

Even if he’s allowed to use work email for personal stuff (and I imagine with all the recent furore that government workers would be particularly cautious about this at the moment), some work addresses can’t receive attachments from web-based email addresses without going through IT security, so he may be concerned he wouldn’t get the pdfs before he leaves work.

Ask him when you see him. There’s probably a good explanation and he’s still printing the stuff for you!

Could it be that they have strict rules about using a work account for personal use? Given he works for the Govt, it might be they have "data protection" guidelines or something along those lines.

Seems like he's going out of his way to print your stuff. That's nice of him.

Having a laid back culture managerially is irrelevant to technical security.