If I send a letter to:
The Chicago Reader
Attn: Ed Zotti
1060 W Addison
Chicago, IL 60613
…is Ed’s boss allowed (according to USPS regulations) to open it?
Yes.
The postal regulations require that mail addressed to an individual at a business be delivered to the business, and it’s up to the president of the organization to determine how it’s delivered after that. (See USPS Domestic Mail Manual 508-1.6) In your hypothetical example, Ed may have agreed to allow others to open mail addressed to him, either explicitly or in compliance with company policy.
Employers are still subject to the federal statute, which says that they can’t obstruct delivery of mail, or destroy it, or open it with the intent of prying. (See US Code Title 18 Section 1702), but it would be tough to argue intent if the letter was addressed that way. (I am not a lawyer, and all other standard disclaimers apply).
If you want to make sure an individual receives a piece of mail at his/her place of employment, you can use the USPS service called “restricted delivery” which currently costs $4.30. However, the recipient can refuse to accept the piece of mail and/or designate someone else to accept it on his behalf.
What if it says instead of “Attn: Ed Zotti” (does that mean Attorney?) “Personal, only Mr. Ed Zotti”?
I’ve always heard (no cite, my laws wouldn’t apply anway) that if a letter is simply adressed to an employee, everbody else can open it (esp. since people move positions or leave the company, but correspondts don’t catch that - we still get mail adressed to Employee X who went to a different branch over 1 year ago, and we simply give it to new Employee Y who has taken over her job).
But if it’s adressed “personally to” then there is an obligation to make sure that only the receipint opens it. It’s courtesy and on the safe side legally - I don’t know if that exact case only went to court, only that normal-adressed letters are not considered personal in a place of business.
Attn is “attention”.
IANAL either, but if you read the regs, once you specify the organization it appears that most everything else is just advisory. The organization may have internal policies to deal with it, but on initially reading it looks like the USPS doesn’t care much.
I believe the legal assumption is that any mail addressed to the company is business mail, not personal mail, and the name of the individual is solely a sub-direction within the company so it will end up on the correct desk for more efficient action. Think about all the times you have read cautions that e-mail sent to or from your company e-mail account can be read (and acted upon) by your employer at will. In other words, a reminder that e-mail operates under the same rules that have always been in place for snail mail.
Yes.
When I send personal mail to a workplace, I send it to:
Recipient LastName
c/o Employer Inc.
1234 Address St.
City, ST, 90210
ATTN: PERSONAL
I’m not sure if this is airtight, though.