Maternity contract and access to email

[iamthenewgirl]

I started a new job this week which is a maternity contract.

It's a busy job and the woman I am covering won't give me access to her email. She seems to think she has given me everything I need and I can ring her if there is anything I don't have as she will have her laptop at home and will email me anything. I'm not exactly sure how she is going to do this when she is in labour/has a screaming baby in tow!

It's a really busy PA role and I know i will need to refer to things to double check email trails/contexts and how she has approached things previously. She is quite adamant that I don't need access.

Any suggestions as to how I approach this? I am sweating the small stuff a bit at the moment...

[Comito]

Ahh OK, I made the assumption you didn't have your own email, sorry! :)

[iamthenewgirl]

Yes, I do have my own email and pretty much everything is done on that. The email traffic is very high (three of the bosses travel so all their email is also copied to me). It's also a very fast paced role so I very much doubt that I have been given all the information I need. Time will tell.

Socks, I didn't think I was being unreasonable either but it seems to be a bit of a can of worms. I will do my job without requesting access and see how it goes. If it becomes too much of a problem then I will have to have a rethink.

[InsertUsernameHere]

I think some of the differing opinions reflect the different use of email in different work places. In some sectors (eg health). email addresses remain with an individual even on changing role and employing organisation. Also access to personal email is not permitted through work IT and whether forwarding is allowed is ambiguous. However it seems in other sectors email is role related and personal email accounts are expected/ facilitated. I would agree with op and avoid non-work personal email on work account. However there is plenty of work related emails in my account which aren't for general consumption. (Eg my boss could read but not my peers)

[SocksRock]

I don't think you are being unreasonable at all OP. I worked part time in my last job, and it was in a very fast moving industry. The first thing I did was give reviewer access to the two junior engineers I was supervising so that they can access my email to read when I'm not in the office. And then when I went off unexpectedly on sick leave and subsequently didn't return, if would have been invaluable. I have a personal email address that I am allowed to access from work to deal with personal stuff. I also can't understand why people use a work email for anything personal as it simply isn't your address. It is provided by work as a tool to do you job. Although they may allow you to use it for personal stuff, there should be zero expectation of privacy.

[flowery]

I can't see anything suggesting the OP doesnt have her own email Comito

[Comito]

I read this the other day but forgot to reply so sorry for being late to the party. I'm a little mystified (unless I've missed something) as to why the company aren't providing you with your own email. This would mean the person you're covering for would only need to forward on relevant emails. Most normal people in this situation would put an out of office saying something like 'on mat leave till xx date, for work matters contact OP'.

Frankly, I find it weird that a company would expect someone to cover for months and not have their own email inbox.

[iamthenewgirl]

No, I'm not talking about being run over and killed and people talking about your prescription for your hemorroid medication, Yonic. It stands to reason that some things pale into insignifcance.

I'm talking about being away from work unexpectedly and your colleague being given access to your email so they can cover your job while you're away. A friend of mine was off on long term sick (unexpectedly) and her colleague was given access to her mailbox to manage the work. At the time she was delighted because it meant that they could all get on with and not hassle her.

Anyway, thank you for all the replies. It's been good to get other people's views. I didn't realise it was such a sensitive subject so I will tread carefully on this. It's also made me realise I too don't need to be as open and sharing as I previously thought.

[YonicScrewdriver]

I think someone who I at least know from a hole in the road would look at it, and probably with sympathy rather than an eye to gossiping about my prescriptions, what with me being dead and all.

[iamthenewgirl]

So if you do get run over by a bus, what do you think would happen?

I would fully expect a colleague or my boss to be given access to my email. Would it then not make sense to make sure there is nothing on there, personal or HR related, that you would want to conceal?

[YonicScrewdriver]

Where, it may belong to the company but that doesn't mean all staff members have access.

[WherewasHonahLee]

IME any emails on company property (PCs and desktops) belong to that company? That's what any IT policy I've encountered specifies. I appreciate this may not be the norm though...

[iamthenewgirl]

Chunderella, I don't think I am exceptional. I am surprised at some people's reactions though so this email thread has been useful.

I guess if I were on maternity leave and emailing HR then I would use my personal email but that's because I like to have copies of things I can always access. If disaster struck and I was marched off the premises for gross misconduct then I would have all my HR stuff in an accessible place.

We both have access to all of the bosses' mailboxes so I very much doubt she will be sending sensitive emails to any of them.

[flowery]

"If she's on maternity leave she's still employed by the company, so she may well be sending emails back and forth with HR or your mutual boss regarding all sorts of things that are none of your business, eg negotiating her return to work. Of course you shouldn't have access to that."

Absolutely.

OP if you genuinely find you are needing to request a lot of historical emails and are not able to do your job, talk to your line manager about an appropriate solution.

[YonicScrewdriver]

Chunderella, you might use a work email for a quick "can you pick up my prescription?" to your husband on the basis that IT, if they ever access your email, won't be looking for that or even bother to read it and who probably would keep anything not meriting disciplinary action confidential; a bit different if someone can see it and wonder about it for months on end, if they are so inclined.

[rallytog1]

If she's on maternity leave she's still employed by the company, so she may well be sending emails back and forth with HR or your mutual boss regarding all sorts of things that are none of your business, eg negotiating her return to work. Of course you shouldn't have access to that.

[iamthenewgirl]

Also, I agree that a good handover should cover everything however I am managing five people's diaries. They are all very busy with lots of meetings, travel, reporting and projects. I often go back and have to check my own email trails because a meeting will have been moved about ten times and I need to find out who helped organise that meeting or who the person to speak to in the Hong Kong office about travel or agendas. A lot of Directors give very vague directions along the lines of, "We'll just do a repeat of the April trip". Well, yes that's great but I would be a lot more efficient if I could just scroll back and see how it was approached last time.

I have done a couple of maternity contracts and this is the first time I haven't been given access to a personal inbox. Anyway, never mind, I'll just have to muddle along and hope for the best. Thanks for your input.

[iamthenewgirl]

I've asked her once and she said no. In light of the responses on here I am not going to ask her again as it would appear that people are very sensitive about their inboxes.

My suggestion of forwarding emails to her and deleting the rest when she comes back was tongue in cheek hence the wink! I wouldn't dream of doing such a thing.

It's very interesting that so many people leave salary and appraisal information on email. I tend to forward emails to my personal email and save documents in folders with a password to protect them. I would never email a sensitive document without password protecting it.

I do think a lot of you misunderstand that your inbox is yours. It's not, it's actually the property of the company. A friend works in IT and does sometimes get requests from Managers/HR to look at inboxes. Obviously, they need a valid reason for the request but he said that some of the requests surprise him. They are not supposed to open emails that are obviously personal but how would you know?

I must be odd because there is nothing in my email that I would need to hide from my boss/another PA if I got run over by a bus tomorrow. It would seem like I am the exception on this.

[InsertUsernameHere]

I'd expect the same set up pepper describes, with a personal work email (for appraisals/HR/individual issues) and a shared inbox for generic items (ie stuff that needs responded to whether somebody is on holiday/mat leave etc). It may be that in previous roles the email accounts you had access to were viewed as shared accounts? I would be more concerned that the person is suggesting they are contactable on Mat leave. They are on leave and I would have thought doing work while on leave leaves the company on a precarious position particularly if (a) they make an error and (b) they aren't getting paid to work. I was never contacted during mat leave others than to be given presents and organise keep in touch days. Similarly I've never contacted a member of staff on mat leave (apart from present giving).

[MrsMargoLeadbetter]

OP I don't think you are werid! If the person you are covering uses her email as a filing system (as many of us do) it could be very handy to have access. It will help you be a more effective cover IMHO.

I am sure your boss would prefer you to be able to work stuff out rather than keeping asking him/her. I think email access would be more important for a role like a PA where you are supporting someone.

I have no issue sharing my inbox, it is the company's property. IT can see everything anyway.

I'd put it to your boss.

[flowery]

You shouldn't need access to historical emails as a matter of course for maternity cover, especially where there has been an effective handover and you (presumably) have access to documents.

If as you go on you find you do need historical emails on a frequent basis, have a chat with your manager about the difficulties you are facing without this access.

[YonicScrewdriver]

Agree, Commander, but if it is vital eg a client saying a different price had been agreed or something, it could be done (not just to get the "nuance")

I'm sure the staff member will forward all "live" issues that she thinks are relevant or save them somewhere; it's more the unexpected, like a complaint from an old client or something, that I was thinking of.

OP, where you have accessed mail boxes before, have they been personal ones or "function" ones (eg [email protected])?

[zerotolerancezone]

OP, your post at 7.10 makes you sound weird and mean. Maybe she's picked up on your bad attitude and that's why she won't share (as well as all of the other reasons states here).