I have had personal mail sent to me at work from state agency. It has been open, passed around an rumor over the office. Dose a company have the right to open personal mail at work. Is there any law that I can copy to give to this person.

Sorry, I couldn't find the statute, but opening someone else's mail is a federal offense. Call your local postal inspector and I'm sure they could quote the law for you.

Yep, opening another person's mail is illegal and if I were you I would make sure whoever opened it gets punished.

It is against the law if the piece of mail had your name on it. Gideon is right. Call the postmaster of your local post office and they can advise you.

Everyone who said it is definitely illegal is definitely wrong. Courts have applied a reasonableness standard to mail sent to the workplace. Mail sent to the workplace usually pertains to work.

For example, suppose you are an insurance adjuster and you direct body shops to send you invoices at work. Now suppose you quit or are fired. The company is liable for those invoices. If an employer is not permitted to open business mail, then the business could be ruined by one fired employee. For this reason courts have found there is a presumption that mail sent to the workplace is work mail.

However, courts don't give employers free reign. If an employer knows that a piece of mail is not business mail, then it would be illegal for the employer to open it.

Definitely illegal. Hope you catch the guy

If you're talking e-mail, you have no recourse.

Opening another individual's physical mail sent through the US Post Office, however, is a criminal offense. It's a misdemeanor, with little punishment, and difficult to enforce (can you prove you didn't open it first, and they just got the contents afterward?), but it is a punishable offense.

It is strictly illegal for anyone else to open it. I believe that they are subject to a jail term...this is not to be taken lightly.

Are you serious? It is a federal offense to open mail that is not addressed to the recipient.

If it were me, I would file a grievance with my supervisor, and if not satisfied, I would speak with an attorney, for an unsafe work environment.

Why don't you have it sent to your home address and avoid all the trouble?

Please tell that to my employer. My job REQUIRES that I open every piece of incoming mail and stamp it, regardless of who it is addressed to. You can not tell me that I can be sued for doing my job.

If the mail is personal, it should be sent to home addresses. Tough call...

Good luck though.

The Postal Service has a long tradition of protecting both the cover and contents of mail. Mail protections are grounded in the 4th Amendment, federal criminal and civil statutes, postal statutes and regulations, and court decisions.

Title 18 of the U.S. Code (Crimes and Criminal Procedure) contains all federal criminal laws, including those enforced by the Postal Inspection Service. Title 39 (Postal Service) contains federal civil laws relating to the establishment of the Postal Service and its authority. Other relevant laws are also listed below. The major postal regulations protecting mail are contained in the USPS Administrative Support Manual, Domestic Mail Classification Schedule, Domestic Mail Manual, International Mail Manual, and Postal Operations Manual.

Below are some of the more significant federal laws and regulations that pertain to the privacy and security of the mail.

TITLE 18, U.S. Code: CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
Section 1114: Protection of officers and employees of the United States
Section 1701: Obstruction of mails generally
Section 1702: Obstruction of correspondence
Section 1703: Delay or destruction of mail or newspapers
Section 1708: Theft or receipt of stolen mail matter generally
Section 1709: Theft of mail matter by officer or employee (of USPS)
Section 1716: Injurious articles as non-mailable
Section 3061: Investigative powers of Postal Service personnel

TITLE 39, U.S. Code: POSTAL SERVICE

Section 410:
Application of other laws (disclosures)

Section 412:
Nondisclosure of lists of names and addresses
Section 3003: Mail bearing a fictitious name or address
Section 3004: Delivery of mail to persons not residents of the place of address
Section 3623: Mail Classification (mail sealed against inspection)

OTHER LAWS
Title 5 (Government Organization and Employees), U.S. Code, Section 552a, The Privacy Act of 1974
Title 19 (Customs Duties), U.S. Code, Section 1583, Examination of outbound mail
Title 49 (Transportation), U.S. Code, Section 44901, Screening passengers and property

If is a federal offense to open anyones mail regardless of where it is sent.

Emails, delivered to a company or government computer, are not private.

Emails on private companie's computers are not private. after all, the company owns the computers and i am sure each employee has been told this.

Its kind of like lockers at a high school. you can use them, but they still belong to the government and subject to search at any time for contraband.

Opening mail that is not addressed to you is a FEDERAL offense and if such person is charged, they will be penalized on a federal level.

Could you please clarify whether it was snail-mail (an envelope) or email (you used a work Email address or personal private email address)?

invation of privacy

If it was snail mail with an envelope, that depends if it was addressed to you as an individual or the business. Perhaps there is a problem with your address on ythe front? Or maybe there is a policy of opening incoming mail? If you knew this policy than reading it may not be an offense. For example at a law firm there is often letters addressed to attorneys which are as a matter of practice opened first by paralegals as part of their normal course of duties. I would need more info. to get an better picture. Normal mail is private and a federal crime if opened by the unintended part intentionally. You may find an answer here.
http://www.usps.com

It doesn't matter what address the mail was sent to, if you open mail that has someone elses name on it that is a federal offense.

http://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/

http://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/contactUs/filecomplaint.aspx

Try these links, they may help you.