Internet at work

rich100 — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:40:29 +0000

The employee has the right to use the Internet for personal purposes since its job?
From a legal point of view, nothing in the Labour Code does not give a right of access to Internet network for the employee from his workstation. Nevertheless, many employees use the Internet on a daily basis to find technical, legal, economic or by e-mail to communicate with their colleagues or customers.
But Internet can be very easily used for non-professional (consultations on travel sites, transport, sending méls private etc.).
Under these conditions, there is a presumption of professional use of the Internet at work, it may be an employee recognized the possibility of personal use of the Internet.However, this use must be reasonable so as not to undermine the effectiveness of the work and must not prejudice the company. The employer can legitimately lay down rules of conduct and develop means of control in respect of legal provisions.
To do so, he agrees that the provisions are clear and explicit, are integrated into the annex rules of procedure of the company after a prior consultation with the staff representative institutions, even if negotiating partners so wish.
Can an employer open emails or its employees have access to their hard drive?
It is normal that the employer seeks to ensure the integrity of the computer system of his company and to ensure that there is no misuse or misconduct of the Internet in the workplace. It is also his responsibility to ensure the productivity of its teams.
Under his able leadership, the employer can control the activity of its employees during their working time. However, it can not set up surveillance devices without informing employees, staff representative institutions and the CNIL for automatic processing of personal data. If it did not carry as well, these devices would be considered illegal and could not be used as evidence in civil matters.
Regarding the control of letters sent or received by the employee, the employer may become aware of e-professionals, but under secret connections, it can not read an email identified as key personnel. In the same way, identified as personal files can be opened.
Accordingly, should the employee clearly indicates in the subject of his e-mail or in the identification of its case files of messages or information to professional or personal. In the latter case, the employer may not have access to their content.
Obviously, the employee must agree not to “transform” bad faith professional personal information. This obligation must be mentioned in the rules of procedure. It follows from the principle referred to in art. L. 120-4 of the Labour Code that “the employment contract must be executed in good faith.”
Can you dismiss an employee by e-mail?
The provisions concerning the dismissal procedure individual are planned by the labour code in its articles L. 122-14-1 et seq. An employer who intends to dismiss an employee must, firstly, the person to convene an interview beforehand. It was not until later that it shall notify the latter’s dismissal.
The invitation to the maintenance must be done by letter with acknowledgment of receipt by mail or hand-delivered against discharge. The notification, it intervenes by registered mail with return receipt.
The procedure described above is not reconcilable with use of electronic mail. It is, indeed, specifically, a procedure well codified based on the paper. The substitution of an email to introduce the letter, under the current legislation, a procedural irregularity and therefore lead to an employee injury that the employer be held liable. It would be up to the judge to assess the damage.
By cons, the employer may spread by email general information concerning the situation of the company or collective redundancies. It can also inform this means an employee of his dismissal but this email is only complementary and post personal information sent to the employee as the formality imposed by law.
A network administrator must respond to the request is made to monitor e-mails or files of employees?
The network administrator of a company or any employee required to manage the computer system of a company must operate with the development of information technology and communication a number of sometimes delicate tasks.
The Paris Court of Appeal in a judgement of 17 December 2001, recalled that it was legitimately in the civil administrators to ensure the normal operation of networks and ensure their safety. This means they have access to all data network in order to resolve technical problems, including those relating to computer security.
However, despite having access to all company data in the exercise of their functions, network administrators are not free to use them. Thus, they can not divulge the contents of a personal letter to an employee, including the employer’s request, the risk of criminal liability on the basis of Article 226-15 of the Penal Code; This article condemns the act of open or be aware of bad faith connections to others.
This obligation of confidentiality must also cover the contents of files that the employee will be stored in a personal space of his computer.
So that is clearly recognized the role of network administrator in the company and for the sake of transparency, we can consider that the obligation of confidentiality that weighs on him must be included in the annex to the rules of procedure which deals with the ‘Use of information technology. Beyond this statement, it would be necessary to devote by law a true professional secrecy for the benefit of network administrators.
The unions of the company and institutions representing staff can use the intranet to communicate with employees?
The Labour Code contains no provision recognizing the right to use the intranet (internal network of the company) by trade union organizations, or more generally by the representative institutions of staff (IRP).
However, the intranet is now an important modality of communication within a growing number of companies. It can serve as an information tool, training and dialogue to all employees. In these circumstances, it may not illegitimate that trade union organizations and, more broadly, the entire staff of representative institutions can use this mode of communication to communicate among themselves and with employees by providing technical means necessary to this effect and a space reserved on the intranet site of the company.
In the civil service, inter recommendations on the use of information technology and communication (ICT) by the trade unions were made public on June 19, 2001. These recommendations should serve as a basis for preparing ministerial charters, to enable organizations to benefit from new technologies to simplify their daily work and enrich the social dialogue. In the private sector, more than twenty agreements have been adopted or are being taken (particularly in companies such as France Telecom, Renault, Bull, ACCOR…).
The way the agreement between the social partners must prevail to determine how to use the intranet by the IRP. The agreement should reach a fair balance between the imperatives of security and responsibility to be borne by the employer and the expression of unions within the company.
The intranet can be used as an electronic billboard?
The display of information of association is laid down in Article L. 412-8 labour code which speaks display “on panels reserved for that purpose” without mentioning support. The practice has devoted the wooden panel. While some companies already have an electronic bulletin board on the intranet (V. agreement France Telecom on September 11, 2000 or the Accor Group dated 17 May 2002), the question of applicability of this article to digital media can be raised.
As a first step, Article L. 412-8 does not seem to exclude on principle a display electronic information unions on a page of the intranet site of the company to the extent or form of material similar to that of the printed sheet presented on the panel classic. In a second step, the parallel may become more ambiguous when one takes into account all the new features of the electronic display, including its interactivity.
Based on the principle stated in the question / answer previous legitimacy access of staff representatives on the company intranet, the path of agreement between social partners, respecting the equality between them, may be considered to determine how to use the electronic billboard.
As for the substitution of traditional panels by electronic signs, it would create discrimination, although from a practical point of view, all employees did not have the same ease of access to information.
The unions of the company can send flyers and e-mails to employees?
Article L. 412-8 provides that the leaflets are freely distributed to employees within the business hours of the entry and exit of work and the content thereof is freely determined by the union.
It appears that the modalities of distribution of these leaflets papers provided by law not lend themselves so that the artificial features of the Internet. Accordingly, sending to all employees by trade union leaflets messaging internal company can be considered equivalent to the dissemination of leaflets papers. For the moment, so there is not a right to the dissemination of “e-flyers.”
However, arrangements for the dissemination of these e-flyers “can be negotiated within the framework of an agreement on the use of the intranet by trade union organizations. The negotiation will lead to define shipments limited in number and volume so that the functioning of the computer system the company is not affected. The identification of the tract should be made in the very purpose of the message in order to enable employees who do receive it to reject it. A system of employee churn wonders of the mailing list staff representative should be provided. Failure to comply with these guarantees would involve a sanction immediate union offender.
In addition, the union may be authorized, in this same agreement, méls communicate with employees of the company. Such a correlation could be subject to requirements comparable to those relating to the leaflets so that trade between the union and employees are not likely to impair the functioning of the company.
The use of the Internet for professional elections is it possible?
The procedures traditional vote today may appear cumbersome and costly. Indeed, itinerant workers, teleworkers or multiple sites complicate the task of HR managers to organize these procedures. In addition, the participation of employees in these votes remains low.
Information technology and communication could open up interesting avenues to promote the expression of employees under the professional elections but also occasionally mere consultations employees or organizations representing staff within the business.
It is necessary to distinguish the procedures for informing employees prepare for the elections of voting procedures themselves.
Informing employees via the intranet can be negotiated in the agreement to use the intranet by trade union organizations.
Regarding the voting procedures, a legal point of view, no provision is designed electronic voting or vote remotely via the Internet. The labour code in its articles L. And L. 423-13 433-9 provides that the election of staff delegates or delegates to the works council takes place by secret ballot in an envelope. Accordingly, under these texts, it is not possible today to validate elections conducted electronically.
By cons, consultation with employees at the initiative of representative institutions staff or the employer is itself not prohibited.
It should be noted that electronic voting is allowed in general meetings of shareholders. Governments have set the conditions for using these new information technologies in the Act of 15 May 2001 on new economic regulations and its implementing decree of May 3, 2002.
It should be noted that this is a natural evolution of modes of participation in public life and professional and it must be promoted in a technical framework providing all the guarantees of reliability and in compliance with the fundamental rules of electoral law.
Should an employee’s right to disconnect?
For several years, as a result of the dissemination of information technology and communication within the world of work, it has been found close interpenetration of life and personal life. Some refer to the “leave-mail” that allows the employee to join the weekend or at his place of vacation.
This led some observers to refer to the establishment of a true “right to disconnect.”
We must remember that the law has long recognized the existence of a private sphere. Thus, Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms is a right to respect for private and family life. Article 9 of the Civil Code raises him, the foundation of a right to respect for privacy as the home.
The labour law does not mention directly the right to disconnect. However, Article L. 220-1 of the Labour Code provides that “Any employee receiving a daily rest for a minimum period of eleven consecutive hours” and Article L. 221-4 provides a weekly rest period of twenty four hours. During these periods of rest, the employee can not be bothered by his employer or a colleague.
These items can materialize this period of disconnection. In a recent decision of 10 July 2002, the Court of Cassation has provided significant insights into believing that the rest period “implies that the employee is totally exempt either directly or indirectly, except in exceptional cases, to perform for his employer benefits work even if it is qu’éventuelle or occasionally. ” The employee can then build on these legal guarantees for a real right to disconnection to safeguard respect for his privacy.
The question is therefore how this response can be applied to the realities of the company and various categories of employees working with digital media.
This is probably as part of an internal discussion that must begin within companies to ensure the effective implementation of this right to disconnect by establishing clear rules on proper use of technologies’ information that could be formalised in codes of conduct established by the employer with institutions representing staff.
By what means setting the rules for the use of the Internet within the company?
For several years, employers adopt within their companies, a number of provisions aimed at informing employees on how to use the Internet. The term most commonly used to describe these texts is “charter”.
The content of these charters is very diverse. Some are only general guidelines reminders of prudence or good use of technology. Others, however, intend to ask obligations may be subject to sanctions. Similarly, the status of charters differs from one company to another. Some take the form of annexes to the rules of procedure, others are mere documents brought to the attention of employees.
All these texts have the interest to open a debate or a dialogue around the introduction of these technologies within the company. They all aim to define clearly the rights and duties of employees in the use of the Internet in his workplace.
However their legal value is very uneven and varies according to their terms of adoption. Of these, only an annex to the rules of procedure may, on the one hand, provide a legible and known to all and, secondly, to make these provisions applicable and establish effective sanctions in case of breach of rules set.

The interconnection of national criminal records avance Publie

rich100 — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:19:16 +0000

The European Commission presented on May 30, 2008, a proposal for a decision on the creation of the European system of criminal records information (ECRIS). The proposal, which must be validated by the Council, has clarified the modalities of a Framework Decision on exchange of information extracted from criminal records that the Council had discussed in June 2007.The system is designed to assist national courts, which often pronounce sentences solely on the basis of the record of convictions generated by their national registry, a total ignorance of convictions in other Member States.
The proposal establishes a general architecture of the electronic exchange of information and paves the way for future developments relating to interconnection of national criminal records. The ECRIS is a system based on a decentralized architecture, in which criminal records are only kept in databases managed by Member States.

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Internet at work

The interconnection of national criminal records avance Publie