Just because you're allowed to take your work laptop home, or set your own screensaver on your office PC, it doesn't mean that whatever you do on that computer is private. Your bosses are allowed to monitor and check anything you do on or with company property.A man in the UK found that out the hard way when he was fired for sending private chat messages to his fiancee, The Telegraph reported last week.His appeal to the European Court of Human Rights was denied and the court gave permission for bosses to spy on work e-mails and other electronic messages sent by their employees.The court said it was not "unreasonable for an employer to want to verify that employees are completing their professional tasks during working hours".Labour relations specialist Mike Miles said people should appreciate that their Facebook and Gmail messages are not closed to employer access."Employers own their electronic intellectual property," said Miles."Whenever you type or upload something on your computer, the company has the right to access that data and monitor the transmission of that message."Miles said the extent of the abuse of company time and resources, and the nature of the content, would determine the course of action an employer took against the offender."If someone organises a social event on their computer it's hardly abusive, and one could argue it doesn't warrant disciplinary action."The nature of the transmission is important and each case is treated on its merit."..