If you are like most business people, you favor e-mails, faxes and text messages as the preferred way of business communication, making casual agreements, contracts and promises as you correspond. Those are certainly convenient and timesaving ways to communicate, but they can also leave your company in jeopardy if you assume your typings to be legally binding, when in fact they may not comply with the standards set by the UETA. In order to be sure that all of your business dealings through electronic correspondence are legally binding, be sure to follow each of the following points:

Important points of the Uniform Electronics Transactions Act
Know them, follow them and share them with all of your employees

* The Uniform Act pertains only to communication concerning business, commercial and government dealings.

* A record or signature cannot be denied legal protection solely because it is in electronic form.

* If a law requires information to be delivered in writing, an electronic record is sufficient to comply with the law.

* If a law requires a signature, an electronic signature is sufficient to comply with the law.

* Every electronic correspondence must include an electronic record and an electronic signature in order to be protected under the UETA.

* In order for electronic correspondence (formal or informal) to become a contract, both parties must agree to conduct transactions electronically.

* To be protected under UETA, an electronic communication must be able to be stored or printed by the recipient.

How to ensure that your business’s
electronic correspondence is protected under the UETA

1. If you are proposing any type of contract or agreement via email, fax, text message, etc., it is important that the other party is in accordance with your terms. This can be shown by making sure the other party returns the electronic message with an acknowledgement and agreement to what was written by you.

2. In order to comply with the signature portion of the UETA, each party must include their name in the closing of electronic correspondences. If you haven’t already done so, set an automatic email signature to appear in all of your emails. You should be able to find this setting in the control panel of your company’s e-mail program.

If your business has employees, it is crucial that each of them knows the importance of following each of the rules set by the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act – especially when an important agreement or arrangement is on the line. Not complying can prove to be very costly for any business if the other party decides not to follow through with what was considered by you to be a binding agreement. It’s best not to leave important matters up to chance when communicating electronically in business dealings – following the guidelines set by the UETA means protecting both you and your business.