Links and support

• Open the Records Management Plan, in Swedish (PDF, 3 MB, new tab).
• Guidelines for the disclosure of public documents.
• Guidelines for the handling of mail.
• Information about personal data and data protection (GDPR).
• Information about the registration of research contracts (in Swedish).

Guidelines for the handling of mail

These guidelines describe issues that need consideration in the handling of mail. They can help you to develop procedures in your organisation.

Incoming mail must be opened and dealt with daily. It is therefore important to have established procedures for who takes care of the mail and who covers this work in the case of absence.

When mail arrives, it must be marked with the date of arrival. This can be done with a date stamp or by writing the date by hand on the envelope.

All mail must then be opened to determine how it should be dealt with. To open mail addressed to someone personally, you must have a power of attorney from the intended recipient. Mail addressed to someone personally means that their name is at the top of the envelope. If the public authority’s name is at the top of the envelope then employees may open the letter, even if there is also a name on the envelope.

Organise power of attorney for the opening of mail for all employees. Keep the powers of attorney for the opening of mail easily accessible. Print out any powers of attorney that were arranged via e-mail and keep them alongside the signed powers of attorney. Make sure to clear out any outdated powers of attorney and make sure to collect ones for new employees.

Download a template for a power of attorney for the opening of mail (Word, 99 kB).

Mail should be dealt with upon opening. There could be documents contained within that need to be registered. Use the Records Management Plan to check what to do with the document.

Open the Records Management Plan, in Swedish (PDF, 3 MB, new tab).

If physical mail needs to be sent on to someone working remotely then it may be scanned and sent via email. Keep in mind that sensitive personal data and confidential information must not be sent via unencrypted email.

Read more about email and personal data.