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> there was nothing stopping a company from opening every memo that came through the mail room I hope I'm misunderstanding this, because I read it as saying th

> there was nothing stopping a company from opening every memo that came through the mail room I hope I'm misunderstanding this, because I read it as saying they can open your mail...which I thought was a felony taken very seriously.

marcosdumay 7y ago
As well as bugging your phone. I don't think companies were ever allowed to do that.
- jedberg 7y ago
  Sure they could. It’s their phone. As long as they buried in the hiring paperwork that all calls were recorded your consent was part of your employment.
  - MegaButts 7y ago
    It's very different if you sign a document consenting to it than if they do it without telling you (which is considered wiretapping by federal law and is also taken very seriously). Employee agreements aren't like EULAs; you should actually read them because it's probably your livelihood. And if they do include it in the employee agreement like you suggest, it wouldn't be too difficult to create a PR headache for them by alerting the media.
- grimjack00 7y ago
  But it's not _your_ mail/phone.
jedberg 7y ago
They could open the internal company memos, not the stuff with stamps.
RIMR 7y ago
No, you're exactly right. If someone sent a letter to me, but they accidentally put your address on it, you would be committing a felony against me if you opened the letter, even though it was delivered to your address. You would know it wasn't your letter to open by the fact that someone else's name was on it. Your employer can forbid you from using your work address to receive deliveries (even sending UPS and FedEx packages back when they aren't addressed to the company - or penalizing you for requesting shipments to the company address). But if they ever interfere with a USPS delivery, or confiscate or destroy and UPS or FedEx delivery, they would be committing mail fraud. If you are legally employed for a company, and someone sends you a letter via USPS to you business address, and someone at your company interferes with the delivery of that letter to you in any way, they are committing a felony. Doubly so if they open the letter to see what's inside.
- MegaButts 7y ago
  > If you are legally employed for a company, and someone sends you a letter via USPS to you business address, and someone at your company interferes with the delivery of that letter to you in any way, they are committing a felony. Doubly so if they open the letter to see what's inside. Are you saying they are required to accept your mail, and any company policy forbidding this is loosely connected with committing a felony?
  - RIMR 7y ago
    Yes. If you work at an address, and someone tries to contact you via the mail at that address, and they put your work address and name on the envelope, then there is a legal obligation that you receive the letter, or the post office be informed that you are unreachable at that address so they can return to sender. If your company receives a piece of mail with your name on it, and they prevent its safe delivery to you or safe return to the sender, then they have committed a felony against you. It is a serious crime to interfere with the delivery of the mail. Even just opening your neighbor's mailbox to give them a note is TWO felonies. One felony for invasion of privacy from opening a mailbox that wasn't assigned to your address or an address you are authorized to collect mail for. One felony for bypassing the USPS system and defrauding them out of postage by using mailboxes for private parcel delivery. Do. Not. Fuck. With. The. Mail.

marcosdumay 7y ago

As well as bugging your phone. I don't think companies were ever allowed to do that.

jedberg 7y ago
Sure they could. It’s their phone. As long as they buried in the hiring paperwork that all calls were recorded your consent was part of your employment.
- MegaButts 7y ago
  It's very different if you sign a document consenting to it than if they do it without telling you (which is considered wiretapping by federal law and is also taken very seriously). Employee agreements aren't like EULAs; you should actually read them because it's probably your livelihood. And if they do include it in the employee agreement like you suggest, it wouldn't be too difficult to create a PR headache for them by alerting the media.
grimjack00 7y ago
But it's not _your_ mail/phone.

jedberg 7y ago

They could open the internal company memos, not the stuff with stamps.

RIMR 7y ago

No, you're exactly right. If someone sent a letter to me, but they accidentally put your address on it, you would be committing a felony against me if you opened the letter, even though it was delivered to your address. You would know it wasn't your letter to open by the fact that someone else's name was on it. Your employer can forbid you from using your work address to receive deliveries (even sending UPS and FedEx packages back when they aren't addressed to the company - or penalizing you for requesting shipments to the company address). But if they ever interfere with a USPS delivery, or confiscate or destroy and UPS or FedEx delivery, they would be committing mail fraud. If you are legally employed for a company, and someone sends you a letter via USPS to you business address, and someone at your company interferes with the delivery of that letter to you in any way, they are committing a felony. Doubly so if they open the letter to see what's inside.

MegaButts 7y ago
> If you are legally employed for a company, and someone sends you a letter via USPS to you business address, and someone at your company interferes with the delivery of that letter to you in any way, they are committing a felony. Doubly so if they open the letter to see what's inside. Are you saying they are required to accept your mail, and any company policy forbidding this is loosely connected with committing a felony?
- RIMR 7y ago
  Yes. If you work at an address, and someone tries to contact you via the mail at that address, and they put your work address and name on the envelope, then there is a legal obligation that you receive the letter, or the post office be informed that you are unreachable at that address so they can return to sender. If your company receives a piece of mail with your name on it, and they prevent its safe delivery to you or safe return to the sender, then they have committed a felony against you. It is a serious crime to interfere with the delivery of the mail. Even just opening your neighbor's mailbox to give them a note is TWO felonies. One felony for invasion of privacy from opening a mailbox that wasn't assigned to your address or an address you are authorized to collect mail for. One felony for bypassing the USPS system and defrauding them out of postage by using mailboxes for private parcel delivery. Do. Not. Fuck. With. The. Mail.