The great mystery: Your Personnel File
One of the greatest mysteries that seem to have people confused on a regular base is the personnel file. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that it is some mystical spell that is meant to cause you doom and destruction.
However, the simple fact is that most employers maintain a personnel file on their employees. The file can contain things such as new employee orientation, sick leave information, request for leave, educational information, resumes, and, of course, your disciplinary actions.
The mysterious thing about the file is that it is information that is maintained for the benefit of the employer. So many times, employees have this misguided thought that their personnel file belongs to THEM!
And how does this usually come up? You find yourself in a position where you leave your job and you want your personnel file and for some ODD reason, your employer is not being cooperative in returning the file to you. Or even better, you leave your job under difficult conditions and you now feel that the secrets to all of your issues can be found RIGHT in the heart of what??? That’s right. YOUR Personnel File!!
But the simple fact of the matter is this: You don’t know WHAT’s in your personnel file. It’s tough but I have to remind people on a regular basis. Just like your computer at work is NOT your computer. It’s the computer that belongs to the employer that the employer assigns to you. Well, the same thing applies to your personnel file.
Now, before you run off and say “I can’t see my personnel file”, make sure you check the laws of your state or (if you’re in a union shop) the collective bargaining agreement to see what the provisions are regarding access to your personnel records. I just want you to be aware that the information that is maintained in your personnel file is for the benefit of the employer and NOT you!
Be careful with your work e-mail
The one thing that constantly amazes me is the number of people who use their work e-mail for personal uses. Unfortunately, in this technological age, we sometimes forget that when we are at work that we are at WORK!
For instance, how many times do you forward cute little chain e-mails to all of your friends all over the world from your job?? How many times have you had long indepth conversation between a friend through e-mail where you are talking about relationships, after hour activities, or even the troubles in your life??? More importantly, how many of you have sent e-mails that you THOUGHT were private?
Come on now, I’m sure that each of you have done this, at least, once in your life. I’m not trying to give you a hard time but you gotta realize that you have NO expectation of privacy when you are using the company e-mail. What this means is that you can’t expect any e-mail that you send through the job to remain personal. You can’t expect that people will respect your right to privacy when it comes to your e-mail.
So what does that mean?? You better not say anything in your e-mail that you wouldn’t say in public. More importantly, if you intend for something that you want to be kept private, you better say it to the person to their face. The work e-mail is exactly that, the WORK e-mail.
Oh, and don’t think that by logging off and going to hotmail or yahoo or gmail on your work computer that you’re doing something. Mind you, some of these sites are protected from invasion of privacy. HOWEVER, your employer can still tell if you WENT to those sites and how long you were on those sites.
Remember this point, when you’re at work, treat it like that, that you are AT WORK! Don’t get so comfortable with using the company computer or more importantly, the COMPANY e-mail that you have to the point that you forget that somebody can ALWAYS monitor what you’re doing.
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