But emptying the Deleted Items folder doesn't permanently delete the
messages.

Well, technically it is a permanent delete from Outlook's point of
view. Recover Deleted Items is an Exchange feature.

I am still able to use the ToolsRecover Deleted Items to get them
back (assuming they aren't older than our retention time on the
server). Sadly if I use the Empty Junk E-Mail I have no ability to
use the Recover Deleted Items feature.

Why would you want to recover junk e-mail? If you think you might
want to do that, then delete the items in the Junk E-mail folder
instead of emptying the folder.

Sadly more than one of our users uses the "Empty Junk E-Mail" option
and then calls us and says they inadvertantly deleted a message they
needed. If I want to get it back I need to restore their mailbox. If
Outlook behaved as documented this would not be an issue.


From the help in 2007:
Empty the Junk E-mail Folder

1. In Mail, right-click the Junk E-mail folder in the Navigation Pane .
2. Click Empty "Junk E-mail" Folder on the shortcut menu.

Note Emptying the Junk E-mail folder permanently deletes the messages.
Before you empty it, you may want to check through the Junk E-mail Folder
to ensure no messages you want were junked by mistake. If you find a message
you want to keep, you can mark it as not junk.

If you want to delete individual messages from the Junk E-mail Folder without
emptying it, select the message, and then press SHIFT+DELETE on your keyboard.
This deletes the message permanently.

So, at least in 2007, it's documented that that's what happens. If you search
OL2003's help for 'empty junk' what does it say?

Also, if you go into Junk Email, is Tools - Recover Deleted Items available?

--
f.h.
Microsoft Outlook MVP