Does Your Firm Have an Electronic Communications Policy?

As e-mail has become the primary method of communication in corporate workplaces, employers have increasingly adopted electronic communications policies (ECPs) in an effort to protect against the perils of the e-mail medium, among them, the potential for diminished employee productivity and the risk of e-mail content that may subject the employer to legal exposure. A number of recent decisions demonstrate that ECPs are crucial for another reason -- protecting the employer's interests in litigation with a current or former employee.