The importance of a terminated employee email policy

In every business, employees come and go, but the data they handle will always remain crucial. Every email account contains a high volume of important information. The projects an employee worked on, client information, tech support conversations, financial transactions, and a lot of other business-critical data is contained in an employee's email account. When an employee resigns or is terminated from the organization, the onus is on the business to process this data in a secure manner. 

Such important data may be needed at any point while running the business. Emails may be needed for any number of legal or compliance reasons that the company faces. This may include checks into whether the data is being processed the right way. It's vital to assign clear policies, alternate contacts, data recovery, and archiving measures before a former employee's email accounts are deleted.

In this article, we'll explore what a terminated employee email policy is, the risks associated with not managing the data securely, and the steps to be followed in drafting a terminated employee policy. 

What is a terminated employee email policy?

A terminated employee email policy defines the process to be followed if an employee resigns or is terminated from the company. This includes details about account deactivation timelines, communication to the stakeholders, password changes, email forwarding, data backups, email archiving, data retention timelines, and many other details that are crucial to managing past emails efficiently.

A terminated employee email policy should make accommodations for data management irrespective of whether the employee has resigned of their own accord, has been let go by the company, or reached their retirement age. Based on the criticality of the data, required steps should be outlined in the policy document. Additional considerations about the compliance regulations that the company needs to follow should also account for how long the emails are being retained. 

With a wealth of business critical information retained in emails, it becomes important for organizations to secure former employees' email data to ensure that their business runs smoothly, without any hiccups. Because employees rely on emails to conduct their day-to-day business, email management becomes a critical aspect of business functions.

Risks associated with mismanagement of emails

Apart from creating disruptions in the organization's business operations, there are several other reasons why it's risky not to follow clear guidelines for email management.

Unauthorized access to information

If an employee's email account is not deactivated in time, they still have permission to view your organization's sensitive data as well as company policies and guidelines. They can also still communicate with clients. A former employee accessing such organization-related data could become a serious issue if the employee decides to misuse this data.

Data theft

With information about customers, ongoing projects, proprietary designs, and other data contained in emails, there's a potential goldmine of data present in an employee's emails. If an employee has malicious intent, they could steal this data for their new pursuit. As a result, the company could end up losing their customers and their intellectual property. 

Data breach and leaks

Sometimes, if an employee has ill feelings towards the company, they may want to bring down the company from within. They might team up with competitors or other external stakeholders and release sensitive data from inside the company. It's also possible that an account that isn't being monitored gets wrapped up in a security breach, causing leaks.

Data deletion

Intentionally or accidentally, employees may delete data from their accounts before or after they leave the company, if they continue to have access. If there are certain activities or communications the employee doesn't want their employers to access, they may delete them to ensure they're hidden. Sometimes, in an attempt to undermine the company, they may clear data about important transactions.

Business disruption

Every employee has a certain role in an organization. And when their time with a company comes to an end, there needs to be sufficient processes in place to fill their place seamlessly. If an employee's accounts aren’t managed following clear guidelines and end up being deleted without foresight, the company may have to deal with disruptions without enough history about the partners or clients they were handling.

Risk of non-compliance

Based on the industry and the part of the globe an organization is a part of, they may have to comply with certain regulations. For example, all organizations processing the data of EU citizens need to comply with the GDPR. Similarly, public organizations need to abide by the SOX. Each law has a certain retention period based on the type of email data. Even if an employee is no longer with your company, the data belong to the organization, and the relevant retention period needs to be followed.

Essential elements in drafting the policy

To mitigate these risks, every company needs to have a robust email policy for terminated employees in place. We'll walk you through the elements that need to be considered while drafting such a policy for your company.

Set a deactivation date: Once you receive a notice that an employee is leaving the organization, establish a date and timeline for how their email data will be handled. This should ideally be in line with the employee's last day in the company. This means that the employee will no longer be able to access their email, but the data will continue to be present.

Set up email forwarding: Pick an alternate employee or appoint a new employee who'll handle the former employee's previous work. Set up email forwarding to that employee's account to ensure all ongoing communications are handled without any disruption to the customers.

Set up an auto-responder: There are many employees with whom customers will build a good rapport, over time. It's a good practice to inform all email senders that the former employee has left the company and provide alternate contacts with whom they can communicate. 

Configure email retention and archiving: Identify all of the important data in the employee's email and set up a retention policy to capture the data in an archiving solution. It's good practice to do this regularly for all employees to ensure there's a backup of all important organizational communication. 

Define MDM protocols: Establish a Mobile Device Management (MDM) protocol for all work-related devices. In case your organization allows access from personal devices, MDM allows you to clear all relevant data, even from remote locations.

Legal and regulatory considerations: Ensure that your backup and retention policy is in line with the regulations mandated for your organization. Ensure that all business-critical data is kept archived in case any eDiscovery requests are submitted as part of any legal purposes. 

Issuing notifications: Notify all of the relevant stakeholders, including the former employee and the replacement employee, about the processes that are being set in place following the exit. This ensures they're prepared to keep up with the processes that are being followed.

Steps in handling terminated employees' emails

It's important to follow a step-wise and streamlined approach to handle the former employee's data. While this may differ slightly based on each organization's specific requirements, this is a skeletal approach that can be followed as a guide.

Conclude the exit process

Properly concluding the exit process is critical to ensuring a smooth transition when an employee leaves. This involves conducting formal exit interviews, collecting company property, and revoking access to all systems. Document any agreements made regarding intellectual property, and clarify when email account management transitions to IT or HR. Having a clear record of these steps helps prevent misunderstandings and provides a backup for the organization in case any dispute arises.

Change the account password

After the employee’s departure, change the email account password. This prevents unauthorized access and protects company data from potential misuse. It’s important to act quickly to ensure that only authorized personnel have access to sensitive communications and information. This helps with securing confidential business correspondence, internal communications, and client data that may be stored in the email account.

Notify alternate contacts

Customers, vendors, and other employees who regularly corresponded with the former employee need to be informed of the transition. Set up an automatic reply and delegate the account to an alternate contact by setting up email forwarding so that no critical communication is missed. Provide alternate contacts or generic company emails for ongoing correspondence. Timely notification helps maintain business continuity and minimizes disruptions caused by communication gaps during the transition period.

Audit the account

Before permanently disabling the account, conduct a thorough audit to identify any sensitive files, confidential emails, or business-critical correspondence that require retention. Archive important data in accordance with company policies and any legal or regulatory requirements. Auditing also helps spot potential abuses or overlooked communications that may need to be addressed before deactivation.

Monitor for suspicious activities

After the initial changes, monitor the former employee’s email account for a set period for any signs of suspicious activity, such as unauthorized access attempts or abnormal forwarding rules. Ensure that there are no bulk operations such as export or import of emails. This monitoring serves as an essential early warning system for data breaches or insider threats that may occur post-termination. Respond promptly to any incidents to mitigate security risks and protect company assets.

Delete the account

Once all of the necessary data is archived and you’re confident that no further legitimate business need exists, proceed to delete the email account permanently. Ensure that this action aligns with company retention policies and legal requirements. Deleting the account helps prevent security vulnerabilities, minimizes data retention risks, and provides closure to the offboarding process by completely removing the former employee’s digital footprint from company systems.

Wrapping up

Establishing and enforcing a clear policy for managing the email accounts of terminated employees is essential to maintaining security, ensuring business continuity, and protecting sensitive company information. Treating email accounts as formal business assets helps organizations minimize risk and avoid data leakage. By following structured steps such as updating credentials, auditing content, and properly deactivating accounts, businesses can ensure a smooth and secure offboarding process.