Can you believe this shit?

**Shelby07** · 06-05-2007, 01:06 AM

Originally Posted by ReV

...e-mail is e-mail... it's not formal communication... thats not your letter head... ...

ReV - You are wrong about this. It's not about having somebody's back. An email is, in fact, an official piece of company documentation when it comes from a company provided account. Individual employee emails have been called into evidence in many cases and stand up as official company documentation whether it is formal or informal email. A business email is not the appropriate place to make a personal statement. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that particular signature. What I am saying is that every company has a right to set standards for what goes into their official documentation. Besides that, ethically I feel that when you agree to work for a company you agree to abide by there practices, procedures and policies. If you disagree with them you have the right to try to change them or quit. But while they are in effect an employee is ethically bound to abide by them.

Besides, a manager would rather do just about anything other than spend their time handling these kind of issues. If a manager said something about an email signature, chances are he or she was directed to do so.

Edit: Yes, I was a technical manager for 13 years for a large Telecom company. I do speak from first hand knowledge and experience.

**JFellows** · 06-05-2007, 01:18 AM

Originally Posted by Shelby07

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that particular signature. What I am saying is that every company has a right to set standards for what goes into their official documentation. Besides that, ethically I feel that when you agree to work for a company you agree to abide by there practices, procedures and policies. If you disagree with them you have the right to try to change them or quit. But while they are in effect an employee is ethically bound to abide by them.

There we go.

**ashauler** · 06-05-2007, 07:48 AM

Originally Posted by Shelby07

ReV - You are wrong about this. It's not about having somebody's back. An email is, in fact, an official piece of company documentation when it comes from a company provided account. Individual employee emails have been called into evidence in many cases and stand up as official company documentation whether it is formal or informal email. A business email is not the appropriate place to make a personal statement. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that particular signature. What I am saying is that every company has a right to set standards for what goes into their official documentation. Besides that, ethically I feel that when you agree to work for a company you agree to abide by there practices, procedures and policies. If you disagree with them you have the right to try to change them or quit. But while they are in effect an employee is ethically bound to abide by them.

Besides, a manager would rather do just about anything other than spend their time handling these kind of issues. If a manager said something about an email signature, chances are he or she was directed to do so.

Edit: Yes, I was a technical manager for 13 years for a large Telecom company. I do speak from first hand knowledge and experience.

Absolutely, e-mail is legal documentation which is why most companies that use them regularly have retention policies and content restrictions. If you can believe it, my sig-line that I use here was deemed inappropriate as a "political" statement, so I don't use it any longer and stick with the stuffed shirt contact info. Free speech doesn't exist in the work environment.

**Monk** · 06-05-2007, 08:09 AM

I used to have stuff like that in my .sig but keep it only for home now. That's just the way the business world has gone sadly. It is a form of letterhead now. Many businesses use their gateway to add legal disclaimers etc. as well: here is what they add to mine:

-------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: This e-mail message is intended only for the named recipient(s) above and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and/or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you have received this message in error, or are not the named recipient(s), please immediately notify the sender and delete this e-mail message.

NOTE: Ce courriel est destiné exclusivement au(x) destinataire(s) mentionné(s) ci-dessus et peut contenir de l'information privilégiée, confidentielle et/ou dispensée de divulgation aux termes des lois applicables. Si vous avez reçu ce message par erreur, ou s'il ne vous est pas destiné, veuillez le mentionner immédiatement à l'expéditeur et effacer ce courriel.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

-W.

**ReV** · 06-05-2007, 08:44 AM

Originally Posted by Shelby07

ReV - You are wrong about this. It's not about having somebody's back. An email is, in fact, an official piece of company documentation when it comes from a company provided account. Individual employee emails have been called into evidence in many cases and stand up as official company documentation whether it is formal or informal email. A business email is not the appropriate place to make a personal statement. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that particular signature. What I am saying is that every company has a right to set standards for what goes into their official documentation. Besides that, ethically I feel that when you agree to work for a company you agree to abide by there practices, procedures and policies. If you disagree with them you have the right to try to change them or quit. But while they are in effect an employee is ethically bound to abide by them.

Besides, a manager would rather do just about anything other than spend their time handling these kind of issues. If a manager said something about an email signature, chances are he or she was directed to do so.

Edit: Yes, I was a technical manager for 13 years for a large Telecom company. I do speak from first hand knowledge and experience.

I agknoledged that the company does have the right to conduct itself however it please, if they say you can't have a certain sig in your e-mail, you're obligated to comply... this i know, but i still agree with cigar no baka that its taken too far... it not that his company doesn't have the right to do this, they most certainly do... they also have the right to enforce a shirt and tie dress code for a surveying crew. Sure its a company document, but if your company is informal enough to even allow sig's, they shouldn't be so anal about what they allow. My place of work has a standard sig that all e-mail entail and you don't get to personalize anything... thats fine. BUT, if they allowed personalized sigs, and i picked mine and it wasn't anything too absurd or offensive, i'd be pissed if they told me to change it over and over. Obviously i'd change it... i'm not saying he should fight the power shelby, just agreeing with his statement "The work environment is so stiff-necked"...

**cigar no baka** · 06-05-2007, 01:43 PM

Let me add that I am not going to challenge this, but it still irks me. And it is spottily enforced, it's not like there is anyone enforcing it. It seems that if you make the radar, buy happenstance as I did, then you get on the shit list. But you should see some of the e-mails I get with sigs that make my head spin. Selective enforcement grinds my nads.

**ashauler** · 06-06-2007, 08:19 AM

Originally Posted by cigar no baka

Let me add that I am not going to challenge this, but it still irks me. And it is spottily enforced, it's not like there is anyone enforcing it. It seems that if you make the radar, buy happenstance as I did, then you get on the shit list. But you should see some of the e-mails I get with sigs that make my head spin. Selective enforcement grinds my nads.

That indeed would be a ball buster if some could and some couldn't!! And I bet that if sig tags on e-mails is spottily enforced it not the only thing that is and the work environment would definitely suffer.

The company I work for is privately owned so I am very familiar with having two sets of rules....one for the "family" and one for everybody else.

**Kenyth** · 06-06-2007, 11:48 AM

Business Email should have a contact info. signature, period.

As far as family of the owner goes, treat them like board members or executives. They are not directly involved in day to day affairs, but they are in positions of power.

Just my 2 cents.

**cigar no baka** · 06-05-2007, 01:45 PM

Originally Posted by Shelby07

ReV - You are wrong about this. It's not about having somebody's back. An email is, in fact, an official piece of company documentation when it comes from a company provided account. Individual employee emails have been called into evidence in many cases and stand up as official company documentation whether it is formal or informal email. A business email is not the appropriate place to make a personal statement. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that particular signature. What I am saying is that every company has a right to set standards for what goes into their official documentation. Besides that, ethically I feel that when you agree to work for a company you agree to abide by there practices, procedures and policies. If you disagree with them you have the right to try to change them or quit. But while they are in effect an employee is ethically bound to abide by them.

Besides, a manager would rather do just about anything other than spend their time handling these kind of issues. If a manager said something about an email signature, chances are he or she was directed to do so.

Edit: Yes, I was a technical manager for 13 years for a large Telecom company. I do speak from first hand knowledge and experience.

Of couse I agree to abide by their rules, but as a full-blooded American citizen, i reserve the right to rant and bitch and get it off my chest.