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Original poster

Any valid reason I can't use my personal mobile for work??? Help!!!

29 replies

loveyouradvice · 31/03/2017 17:58

Hi... I'm about to start a new part-time job alongside childcare and some freelance work... lots of it is very flexible working and I'm very keen to be able to use my own phone, rather than carry two phones, when I'm out and about (for important clients, etc)... in the past, I've done this with work footing their proportion of the bill. It makes my life much easier - especially as Im someone who likes going out with just a phone and keys when I'm off duty.

My new employer isn't keen and say that its because of health and safety, and legal reasons...

And I promise I don't let it impinge on my work/life balance - in my downtime, I don't take regular work calls, just the really important people Ive been trying to get through to...

Anyone got any advice? Any reason really why this wouldn't work??

OP posts:
VivienneWestwoodsKnickers · 31/03/2017 18:05

I'm health and safety Inspector. They're are no H&S regulations about this. That's a total lie or at least totally fabricated by someone. They can't blame H&S for this. Ask to see the risk assessment which covers use of personal phones.

There may be an issue regarding data protection, so if you stopped work for them, how could they verify you have handed back all information which belongs to them? Alternatively, are you accessing data such as emails which they want done only on approved types of phones with appropriate security levels installed?

As regards the bills, they may simply not be geared up for this. They don't have to accommodate you, so you probably need to come to a compromise on this issue (billing).

What is the usual practice for this company? If they routinely issue you a phone, and you don't want to lug it about then it only gets used or even switched on when you are on work time. My works IPhone lives in my work desk drawer.

Theresnonamesleft · 31/03/2017 18:10

It could also be because clients would be calling you. Then what happens when they call outside your hours and you answer because it's your phone?

thatstoast · 31/03/2017 18:16

A colleague of mine uses their personal phone for work. As a result, they don't get paid for the usage as it's too much of a hassle to figure out what's what. Their choice but definitely not a health and safety issue.

RedSandYellowSand · 31/03/2017 18:19

I don't know how common they are in the UK, but i have a phone with 2 SIM slots. So 2 numbers, with different ringtones, on one phone. I set the default number for outgoing to whichever country I'm in. Might not be a simple if you are constantly switching g for outgoing calls, but for me, it's rare i want to make an outgoing call on my Uk number when I'm not in the UK! Worth considering.

SparklesandBangs · 31/03/2017 18:21

Makes sense to me, if you use a work phone they determine the access to it, the type of device and when it's used. They can have policies relating to use of private phones in the premises and for other reasons etc.

The have control of the number it may be one a previous holder of the role used, they can decide when and where the number is published. If you leave you hand back the phone and they will receive all the calls.

This is standard practice in many companies.

Wh0Kn0wsWhereTheTimeGoes · 31/03/2017 18:21

Do you really want clients having your personal mobile number? I know I wouldn't. I use my own mobile for work email but never, ever give out the number.

Shnorbitz · 31/03/2017 18:23

Your number will effectively become the property of your employer and dependent on policies they have in place there may be restrictions on what services you can access.

As mentioned above from a security perspective you will have company information on your mobile device which may be against company policy.

Where I work we do allow people to add their email account to their personal device but we retain the right to wipe the device at any time if misuse is suspected.

Scribblegirl · 31/03/2017 18:23

I can't use my personal phone for work as I'm in a regulated industry and they have no way of knowing what security I have on the phone. This could lead to hackers accessing privileged information that my company must keep protected in order to be permitted to operate.

There's also a more general data protection obligation which will apply to almost all businesses.

Smitff · 31/03/2017 18:25

Using your own phone for work is riddled with legal problems. For years I had three devices: personal phone, work phone, work blackberry. Technology advanced and I had a personal phone and work blackberry with integrated phone. Now I have a single phone with a specific app for work use (added thumbprint required to open that app).

If you're off duty, why can't you just leave your work phone at home/work and leave the house as you always do? What's the problem?

PhilODox · 31/03/2017 18:27

Why would be so useful would be if telephone companies had a way to forward all your calls from your personal phone to work phone during the day, that way you only need to carry one phone.

insancerre · 31/03/2017 18:29

Its their business and their rules
Thats a valid enough reason

BackforGood · 31/03/2017 18:30

I too think it's a really bad idea.
Firstly they are protecting you in that you shouldn't be answering it if you are not are work. Secondly, as folk say there are restrictions on work phones often - either to do with billing or security / data protection. Then, of course, when you leave, you can't hand back your work phone.
I'm no lawyer, but if there were ever a problem, I presume my employers could access all logs / records / data on my work phone, but there would be more difficulty if it is your personal phone ?

LadyLapsang · 31/03/2017 18:36

Depending on the type of work, they may be concerned that if you left to start up on your own or go to another firm you may take clients with you.

Wh0Kn0wsWhereTheTimeGoes · 31/03/2017 18:41

They might also be concerned that some apps ask for access to your contacts list so your FB account for example might pick them up. Or that you might let your children play with the phone and inadvertently send them messages or similar.

CorporalNobbyNobbs · 31/03/2017 18:43

Will it be a smartphone with email access etc? If so as pp said there could be issues with you storing work information on a personal device. Can you get a dual sim phone?

Original poster
loveyouradvice · 31/03/2017 18:52

All really useful advice - and I especially like the idea of two sim cards, so am going to look into whether that's possible for an iPhone.

Given the work I do, I am happy to take calls from important clients outside of regular hours - its to my and the organisations' advantage and is one of the reasons Im good at what I do - especially given Im only working part-time so the odds are high that they would often not reach me otherwise . And I do limit it to the really important ones.

I should have said that they are fine for me to use my personal laptop, so part of me is wondering what the difference is.

Can anyone explain the legal issues? I get that they need to be reassured about the security (as I have done on the laptop).

Thank you: I really appreciate so many responses so fast.

OP posts:
Mehfruittea · 31/03/2017 18:53

As other PP suggested, the best way to deal with this is have your personal calls forwarded to your work phone, and install an app that allows your personal texts to forwarded too if needed. Usually a paid for app for that.

For all reasons above, security, billing and end of tenure issues - your work will want to keep it seperate. Just from a billing perspective, they will be paying 1 monthly fee to cover all of the minutes and data used by the business, then a nominal monthly fee for each handset (employee). So splitting your bill will cost them more and leave them paying twice.

Originalfoogirl · 31/03/2017 18:57

I did it for 11 years, never caused a problem. If I didn't want to answer out of hours, I just didn't. No different to my work phone. Emails are kept on a central server so the employer still has access to it. Most contracts have bundled minutes, data and texts etc so it never cost me anything. Security wise, there isn't much security around phones and relies on the user rather than the phone. It was far more convenient and in my current job, I tend to give out my personal mobile number rather than my work one. Unfortunately if that is their policy there isn't much you can do about it.

Allthebestnamesareused · 03/04/2017 09:56

My husband used to do this - ie. used his own phone for work and they paid his bills. The pain was that when he eventually left after 12 years they were entitled to keep his "number" because it was a number used in the course of business and he ended up having to get a new one.

The reason they won't want you to use personal numbers is for data protection and also if you leave it is possible for clients to still contact you easily if it is your number programmed into their systems rather than the company's.

EBearhug · 03/04/2017 10:50

I have my work phone forwarded to my personal phone. If I do need to call out, I do that on my work phone, because I'm not having the costs of confidence calls to the US on my own phone, as they wouldn't pay for that , as they provide me with a phone. Which is fair enough.

Original poster
loveyouradvice · 04/04/2017 11:46

Darn - getting a phone that uses two Sims, which felt like a great solution, is only possible outside UK so wouldn't have any of the usual back up.... having had problems with mobiles in the past Im keen to have easy full service to tap into....

Anyone else have any thoughts?

Key reasons NOT to let me seem to be:

  1. Cost: cheaper if they use their existing contract
  2. Data protection: business numbers" unprotected" on personal phone
  3. Client theft: taking them with you when you leave
  4. Becomes their business number: i.e. number all have when you leave

For me:

  1. Cost - I'm happy to make up the difference
  2. Data protection - so long as I password protect my phone, it's actually probably more secure than my laptop which they have no problems with... though this is the one I think may be most important....
  3. Theft - not an issue given business we're in
  4. New person would have new contact number anyway so again not an issue

Have I missed anything? Im hoping I can persuade them to change their policy for me - they are a small company so sell themselves as being very flexible. If not, I might go the route of seeing if they're happy for me to make this phone my work phone and do some personal stuff on it.... constant forwarding feels foolish and rather costly!

Look forward to hearing from you - Im finding this really helpful

OP posts:
Bookishandblondish · 04/04/2017 22:59

I've just had to deal with the aftermath of an employee who was fired. It would have been much more painful if he had kept his work/ personal phone the same.

I personally wouldn't tolerate people using personal phones for business after this. I wasn't a big fan before but now, I'd avoid it.

By the way, isn't your laptop protected by password/encryption.

Butteredparsnip1ps · 04/04/2017 23:08

There might be a H&S issue. I used to work for a company who required staff to log their location from their business mobile as part of their lone worker policy.

It's more likely though to do with security and confidentiality as other PPs have said.

Crankycunt · 04/04/2017 23:14

It's probably a cost thing, they've probably got a business account with a mobile phone provider And calls, texts and data will be cheaper on this rather than your personal account.

Added to this it'll be security and confidentiality. If you don't like it look for a job elsewhere.

tb · 07/04/2017 12:42

There is a Hewai (not sure if this is the make) phone that is unlocked and that carries 2 sim slots. I got one from the ee shop by mistake.

I have a Wiko u-feel lite that has 2 sim slots and a data card slot - I use ee in the UK and Bouyges in France. That way, I don't need to carry 2 phones.

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