To think my boss shouldn't have access to my emails?

[thepartysover]

I'm soon to be going on maternity leave and as part of my handover my boss has asked for the password to my work email address "so that nothing gets missed".

I will be setting up an out of office email response (including the relevant people to contact in any instance) - am I being unreasonable to say no to this, or does my boss have the right to access my correspondence?

[RedSkyLastNight]

delete anything that worries you

As general advice for anyone reading this thread, please don't post anything from your work email account that might be "used against you". Most companies have policies that they can access any of your email at any time, for any reason.

[ChazsBrilliantAttitude]

IWould
It really depends what you are deleting and why. If you are deleting work related emails then to hide a problem then you are right that won’t work and is inappropriate.

However if you have had personal information sent to work ( my employer permits some personal usage) e.g. something medical or relating to a family member you can delete that quite legitimately as that is personal data.

[KatherineJaneway]

Absolutely not. If he logs in as you then whatever he does looks like you are doing it / did it. By all means delegate him access to your emails, but do not give him your password.

[chomalungma]

Write every email, make every diary entry, as though it's for publication

This - especially with the potential for subject access requests.

[shieldmaidenofrohan]

Can't you just set up your incoming emails to divert to his inbox ?

[NiceLegsShameAboutTheFace]

No. He/she should not have access to your emails in the normal course of events. At my place of work it's a disciplinary offence to give someone else your passwords.

You should make sure that you do a handover with your boss before you go on maternity leave. There is no need for him/her to have access to your mailbox which is private, despite it being a work email address.

[Scrumymum]

This has got GDPR written all over it. Regardless of being your work email, you are still entitled to your privacy according to the updated Data Protection Act (2018). Simply set up a forwarding rule (being the IT dude, he will be able to do this anyway if you can't ). Any emails you receive after X date (when you go on mat leave) forward straight to him. Your out of office can state that the message has been automatically forwarded. There is literally no need to give him your password and being in IT he should know it contravenes GDPR law.

[chomalungma]

There is no need for him/her to have access to your mailbox which is private, despite it being a work email address

Not really - many workplaces have clear policies about who can see your work email, folders, internet access etc. They are not normally private.

[catwithnohat]

Its not "your" email; its "your work's" email so of course he should have access.

Not sure why he's asked you for your password when IT should sort that out or arrange a forwarding to someone else who is covering your workload in your absent.

[chomalungma]

Regardless of being your work email, you are still entitled to your privacy according to the updated Data Protection Act (2018)

As long as you have been made aware that your emails are being monitored, I think it's perfectly acceptable for work emails to be checked.

www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3717

[NiceLegsShameAboutTheFace]

Its not "your" email; its "your work's" email so of course he should have access.

Er no. He/she definitely shouldn't. I don't have access to my team's email accounts. And neither should I expect to.

[StCharlotte]

Ha ha! Our firm told me what my passwords would be!

[pelirocco123]

They can always reset the password , that is what we do

[DGRossetti]

Bottom line is never share your password with anyone.

If your "system" requires you do share your password in order to enable email delegate access then:

1. it's really much of a system,
   
2. you have to worry about what other shortcuts and crappy practices are going on where you can't see them.
   
   Certainly when I was an IT manager, I would never have asked anyone their password...
   
   On the separate topic of access to emails, then anyone using a work-provided email address should assume everything they get and send can be seen, if required.

[chomalungma]

I don't have access to my team's email accounts. And neither should I expect to

You might if you have an employment issue, a dispute or a subject access request.

[StCharlotte]

Oh and in my last job, we received copies of all our bosses' emails. Which is how I found out his wife was pregnant before he did. I had been nagging him to set up his private inbox which he then did straightaway.

[Percypigparade]

Logged into your account, he could potentially (accidentally or otherwise) be sending out emails in the OP's name which I would not be happy about! What if you are your workplace union rep, should you be ok with employer seeing emails from other members about union matters?

[MargotsFlounceyBlouse]

Gmail or personal email of course not. Work email absolutely! The clue is in the name.

I agree change the password to something banal for this though, just in case you're using the password elsewhere.

I've always presumed the IT admins can read my mails anyway if they really wanted to!

[Stoptheworldpleasethankyou]

I think people are still missing the face the boss is the IT guy.

[MargotsFlounceyBlouse]

Surely it's the digital equivalent of handing over your lever arch files of written correspondence? I don't see how there's a privacy issue if the function of the account was company business.

[Zilla1]

In one of the places I worked, the standard procedure was to close the email account during maternity leave after a couple of weeks of out of office, much to the annoyance of colleagues who had archived emails and wanted to dip in and out of email during mat leave.

[DarlingNikita]

I don't think you're supposed to give your password to anyone. I've started to tell IT people my passwords in the past, thinking I was being helpful, and IME they practically rear up in horror and yell 'No, don't tell me!'

So I think this is weird. And not necessary if you've got all the info about who to contact instead set up.

[DGRossetti]

Surely it's the digital equivalent of handing over your lever arch files of written correspondence?

No, not really.

[NiceLegsShameAboutTheFace]

You might if you have an employment issue, a dispute or a subject access request.

No. I wouldn't. Their email accounts are private. Yes, IT have the capability to access the accounts but that would only happen if an outside agency (police or similar) had a legitimate legal right to so do.

For internal disputes, I would absolutely not be permitted to look at a colleagues' inbox.

However ..... the advice to refrain from writing anything that you absolutely wouldn't want other people to see is good advice. That applies to writing things down anywhere come to think of it. The only safe place for your private matters is in your head. And I'm not sure how long it'll be before the tech comes along to unlock that too

[GreenFingersWouldBeHandy]

Yes, we have access to whoever's on holiday's emails so nothing gets missed.