Stokers A5 Handbook Policies APR24

material received from a colleague via email should inform the relevant manager or the HR department. Employees should take care with the content of email messages, as incorrect or improper statements can give rise to claims for discrimination, harassment, defamation, breach of confidentiality or breach of contract. Employees should assume that emails may be read by others and not include anything which would offend or embarrass any reader, or themselves, if it found its way into the public domain. Should an employee receive an e-mail or quick message which has been wrongly delivered to their e-mail address, they should notify the sender of the message by redirecting the message to that person (but NOT in the case of SPAM which should be deleted immediately). Furthermore, in the event the e-mail or quick message contains confidential information they must not disclose or use that confidential information. Emails or messages may be disclosed in legal proceedings in the same way as paper documents. Deletion from a user’s inbox or archives does not mean that an email cannot be recovered for the purposes of disclosure. Employees should assume that all emails are retrievable. In general, employees must not: • Send or forward private emails at work which • Contribute to system congestion by sending trivial messages or unnecessarily copying or forwarding emails to those who do not have a real need to receive them; • Sell or advertise using Stokers’ IT or communication systems or broadcast messages about lost property, sponsorship or charitable appeals without prior consent; • Agree to terms, enter into contractual commitments or make representations by email unless appropriate authority has been obtained. A name typed at the end of an email is a signature in the same way as a name written at the end of a letter; • Download or email text, music and other content on the internet subject to copyright protection, unless it is clear that the owner of such works allows this; • Send messages from another person’s email address (unless authorised) or under an assumed name; or • Send confidential messages via email or the internet, or by other means of external communication which are known not to be secure. Employees must not use a personal email account to send or receive emails for work purposes. they would not want a third party to read; • Send or forward chain mail, junk mail, cartoons, jokes or gossip;

Stokers monitors all emails passing through its system for viruses. However, employees should still exercise caution when opening emails, particularly unsolicited emails from unknown sources, or any email which appears suspicious. Employees must inform the IT department immediately if they suspect that their work computer may have a virus. The business reserves the right to delete or block access to emails or attachments in the interests of security. Stokers also reserves the right not to transmit any email message in order to protect its systems. Social Networking The Company acknowledges that our employees may use social networking websites as a means of communicating and socialising with friends and family. Stokers also use social media sites as a way of engaging with customers, creating PR opportunities, as a tool for finding new employees and sharing business news. All employees have a duty to ensure that Stokers’ reputation is protected when using social media sites, both for personal use and when representing the business. Stokers also have a duty to all employees to take all possible steps to prevent them from being subject to offensive or insulting comments being posted online. The following expectations are clearly laid out so that all employees act responsibly and appropriately when it comes to social networking, by providing guidance around what the Company considers to be acceptable when using such sites: • Employees should not conduct themselves in a way that is detrimental to the Company. This includes initiating and/or engaging in discussions that are perceived to be derogatory or defamatory towards the Company or its employees. If employees are involved in an online discussion that starts to become derogatory or defamatory, comments should be removed and HR should be notified. • Employees should not comment on any • Employees should not conduct themselves in a way that might damage working relationships with or between other employees, suppliers, clients or customers. Employees are therefore advised that they should not use the names of, or refer to other colleagues or Managers at the Company in any online discussion. • Employees should not use swear words, or offensive, degrading or derogatory language in any online post which relates in any way to the Company, other employees, customers or suppliers. Company or customer posts on social media. There is a dedicated team for responding to customer queries and comments.

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