Save content
Have you found this content useful? Use the button above to save it to your profile.

Expense policies again: Mobile phones

20th May 2013
Save content
Have you found this content useful? Use the button above to save it to your profile.

The HR documents provider came up trumps last month and produced a set of templates in plain English.  That was a relief.

I’m still working on adding expense policies to the employee handbook.  BD is complying with the rules thus far, though he did scare me a bit when he rang up and told me that rooms were in short supply the night before Lady Thatcher’s funeral and asked if he should go to The Dorchester or sleep on a park bench?

Before I’d recovered the power of speech, he admitted he was joking.  I warned him it’s not a good idea to tease the person behind the payroll.

My latest policy is on mobile phone use.

We have, of course, made sure that all mobile phones are in the company’s name.  I’m not risking being caught by benefit in kind rules and having to add phone bills to people’s wages.

But I didn’t know until last week that employers should have policies that warn employees who are driving not to break the law on using hands-free kits to make calls while they’re at the wheel.

This calls for a company mobile phone policy.

I actually find myself thinking that we should be advising staff not to make calls at all while they’re driving.  If I remember rightly, it’s not actually that much safer to use a hands-free kit than to make a call on a hand-held phone.  The difference is, one is legal and the other isn’t.  A bit like tax avoidance and tax evasion.

So the policy is:  Pull over if you can.  If you have to take the call and there’s nowhere safe to stop, you must use a hands-free kit.  We will supply hands-free kits.  And texting or e-mailing at the wheel is a disciplinary offence because that’s really dangerous.

Do readers have mobile phone use policies?

Tags:

You might also be interested in

Replies (2)

Please login or register to join the discussion.

avatar
By Roland195
20th May 2013 16:25

No half measures

if you are worried about this enough to have a policy, it would seem better not to provide hands free kits and simply state no mobile phone use while driving at all.

Giving them the kit and saying not to use it is a mixed message at best. You would have to ensure that the managers follow this too by not expecting employee's on the road to be able to pick up at all times.   

 

 

 

Thanks (0)
avatar
By Klandrews
21st May 2013 11:05

Driving a safe car?

As you're looking at driving you might want to think about a few more points to ensure that your employees (BD in this case) are safe behind the wheel.

Do they have a valid driving licence?  Sounds silly but if they are driving on your business they need one.  You might want to consider having a policy that requires them to report to you if they get any points on their licence - and you might ask to see their licence and then keep a copy on file.

Is their car roadworthy?  If you're not providing a company car (can't remember if you're paying car allowance or not) that you are maintaining, then you might want to stipulate that they need to maintain their car in a roadworthy state.  I've seen examples where policies have stipulated that the car can't be over so many years old and that it has to be properly maintained.  It's probably worth doing some research on this as I haven't looked at it closely for a few years.

I believe that a lot of these requirements came out of the issues around corporate manslaughter originally, but it does make sense to make sure that your employees are safe.

Thanks (0)