Work Cell Phone Question

[smokeyblue]

Do you use a company cell or use your own phone and have them reimburse you? I'm leery of using my own number for work, but $75/mo is a lot of money! In all honesty, I don't get many personal calls or texts. Mostly just my parents and maybe 5-10 text messages a day. I don't know that it would be all that bad to use the phone for work purposes.

If you had the choice between a provided cell and being reimbursed, what did you choose and why?

 

[Christine]

Well, I don't get a choice. I have to use the phone that is provided to me and not do any work on my personal cell phone. They have special email apps on the workphone that are secure. I just carry two phones around during the week. Not a big deal since I carry a purse. I don't think I'd want my personal phone tied to work.

 

[disneychrista]

Neither...anymore.

Before I lost my job in January, my phone was paid for by my employer. My personal cell phone number was ported to a company phone and put on the company plan. For me there was not much difference in the calls I received on my cell phone before, during & after the number being a "company phone."

 

[tvguy]

$75!???? Yikes, I won't complaint about $40 any more!

Some employees at my work have company phones. Same at my wife's place. You are not allowed to use a personal phone for business at my place.

If they want me to use a cell phone at work, THEY are going to have to provide it.

Funny thing is, if you quit, you can buy your company phone and take the number with you.

 

[SC Minnie]

We changed to a 'bring your own device' policy a couple of years ago. I get $80/month for using my personal phone. It's not a big deal. They don't own the phone number so if I were to leave I don't have to give them my $. There are some people here who did get another cheaper phone and use that for business because they didn't want the company to potentially have access to their personal stuff.

 

[smokeyblue]

$75!???? Yikes, I won't complaint about $40 any more!

Some employees at my work have company phones. Same at my wife's place. You are not allowed to use a personal phone for business at my place.

If they want me to use a cell phone at work, THEY are going to have to provide it.

Funny thing is, if you quit, you can buy your company phone and take the number with you.

Sorry I may not have been clear, they pay me $75/mo to use my own phone. My wireless plan right now through Cricket is $25/mo. I would upgrade my phone and add a more generous data plan if I opt to use my own.

 

[kimblebee]

$75!???? Yikes, I won't complaint about $40 any more!

Some employees at my work have company phones. Same at my wife's place. You are not allowed to use a personal phone for business at my place.

If they want me to use a cell phone at work, THEY are going to have to provide it.

Funny thing is, if you quit, you can buy your company phone and take the number with you.

Americans have no idea how sweet your cell phone plans are. Canadians get ripped off.

 

[tvguy]

Americans have no idea how sweet your cell phone plans are. Canadians get ripped off.

LOL. They're even cheaper in England. My daughter went to school there for a year, and her pay as you go smart phone cost $30, and she spent another $70 for all the data and airtime she used in a year!

 

[kimblebee]

LOL. They're even cheaper in England. My daughter went to school there for a year, and her pay as you go smart phone cost $30, and she spent another $70 for all the data and airtime she used in a year!

We have pay as you go as well but for a talk and data monthly plan you’re looking at $55 as a minimum..and I live in one of the cheaper provinces.

 

[tvguy]

We have pay as you go as well but for a talk and data monthly plan you’re looking at $55 as a minimum..and I live in one of the cheaper provinces.

As my cousins in Canada say, "we have to find some way to pay for our free healthcare"

 

[starry_solo]

I would rather the company I work for provide their own phone and number.

 

[LYSE]

I've had it both ways, my last employer provided a phone with plan.

My current employer reimburses me, technically I could pay for a "work" line and submit that for reimbursement but I do what everyone else does and submit my personal line.

The only thing I might change is provide my company a Google voice number, that way when a call is incoming I have a better idea if it's work or personal

 

[SteveH]

I have my own cell phone and I don't want a work phone. Over the years I've asked my staff what they wanted, my senior staff team were clear they wanted their own... except one. So we agreed to get her a phone. Of course she want happy with it, wanted an expensive phone and unlimited data. Thankfully she left.

Now we offer several reimbursement options. Not as well funded as yours. Depends on how much they use their phone and does require them to load a few apps if they select the upper amount. We also do not ask for call records and I don't publish their cell phone # anywhere, including business cards. For a few of us with the higher amounts we are on the emergency call list for Fire, Police & Secuirty. Beyond that I try to tell my staff to ignore work calls, emails and texts after work hours.

Some of this is due to over time regulations, if you are an exempt employee it doesn't matter but if you're hourly each time you respond to a call, or email, even reading one, you can charge your employer 15 minutes (could be wrong on the time) but that can add up fast for an employer.

One member here talked about how their employer wanted to maintain ownership of their personal cell # if they every left the company so its worth making sure that doesn't happen.

 

[bigbabyblues]

I would want a separate phone/number because I don't want to deal with work calls/texts when I am not at work.

 

[firecracker725]

Americans have no idea how sweet your cell phone plans are. Canadians get ripped off.

When we lived in France, my husband had a plan that cost 2 Euro/month. That included 2g of data and unlimited calls any time of day. My plan was fancier...for 15 Euro I was able to get unlimited data and calls to and from any country with no roaming fees.

 

[Skellingtonj]

I would want a separate phone/number because I don't want to deal with work calls/texts when I am not at work.

Same.

 

[GreatLakes]

I use my own and get reimbursed. Anyone in the company that needs to be accessible 24/7 (which includes me and all of my direct reports) gets a reimbursement for cell phones ($70/month). C-Level Executives also get tablets with LTE coverage.

 

[sam_gordon]

I use my cell and get a stipend each month. For the last almost 20 years, I've sort of been on call 24/7/365. Why would I want to carry two cell phones? When I was an hourly employee, I was free to refuse the call and let it go to VM. Now that I'm a manager, I try to answer as many calls as I can.

I've been in equipment support for 20 years and I get maybe 2 calls and 4 texts a week (average) outside of business hours. I also check my email outside of the office (did when I was an hourly employee also), and answer what I can.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

Everyone is different I dont want a different phone just so the teacher I work with can tell me their has been a change in my work day to me that us silly

 

[YachtClubWoman]

I carry 2 cells - one for work and one personal. It is the best way for me to disconnect on weekends and vacations from work.