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1. I pay for my phone entirely. My company does not pay for it at all. Nor will they pay anything for this.
Basically, I feel that by using my personal phone in the way that they require, I am losing the personal use I pay for. If I have to completely change the settings on my phone, it is no longer a phone I am using personally that doubles as business, but a business phone.
Thoughts?
Deduct your cell phone bill from your taxes as a work related expense. Just like how some people use their own car and gas for work.. Perfectly legal.
No, this isn't about "obsessing over the cell phone."
It's about an employee making several concessions already to show more than good faith being a good little worker. For the employer to request further, it breaks the final boundary that the OP set in order to keep sane.
This is exactly it. The employee should not have to make any concessions at all.
The employee is an hourly employee, as such, the employer is violating one or more laws in the treatment of this employee. I am guessing that the 'company' is fairly small, and the owner/manager may be ignorant of the laws or intentionally violating them.
The company/manager has no right to demand that the employee provide his/her own equipment to be 'on call' and to make or receive calls for company business.
Additionally, the company absolutely owes the hourly employee pay for the time spent working on company business.
Various state laws (in addition to federal requirements) may require that the employee be compensated for 'on-call' hours, *especially* if the employee is restricted as to where he/she may go during such 'on-call' hours, *regardless* of what hours anyone might think the employee 'should' be sleeping.
An employee being put in the position that the OP describes is being taken advantage of, and is NOT being 'petty' to complain about it and want to be compensated...and those of you who think otherwise, unfortunately C-D TOS does not permit me to fully describe my opinion.
Certainly there are those of us who may have, or at some time may have had, sufficient dedication to a company or job to do what the OP describes willingly, but no one should be *pressured* to do so against his/her will. Salaried Exempt employees typically receive higher salaries and/or perks in exchange for this type of inconvenience, and there are laws to protect hourly employees who do not receive such extra advantages.
The OP is completely justified in being upset.
My home phone has local calling service only, and no company has the right to demand I purchase a higher level of service to accommodate *their* business needs, my number is unlisted/unavailable and if an employer were to give it out to some other person they would feel my wrath. If I am 'out' and do not answer my phone, tough cookies, if they want me to stay home and listen for it to ring, they *will* have to pay me to do so. My cell phone is paid for by me, for my convenience. My employer does not get the number, and my cell phone may not even be turned on unless I need to make a call. If the company wants me to be available to take calls for company business, they *must* supply me with a phone that they pay for, and they *must* pay me for any time spent on company business, and/or being 'on-call', especially if I am restricted in any way on where I can go and what I can do. If they are usurping my time, they *must* pay, one way or another. If they aren't paying me, whether I'm home asleep, or at a second job, or half in the bag at a strip joint is none of their business.
Deduct your cell phone bill from your taxes as a work related expense. Just like how some people use their own car and gas for work.. Perfectly legal.
That is in no way sufficient compensation. *IF* the entire sum could be deducted from taxes due, that would be one thing...but that isn't the way it works. The OP would receive little or no value for deducting it as a work related expense. Legal, but useless.
I am not going to take it to the point where I flat out refuse. They are still figuring it out.
As for a requirement, yes. However the requirement was stated regarding on-call and that the company would provide the means to have the person on call.
I am also not paid when I take calls and deal with the issue.
If I was called at home after working hours..... I was entitled to 2.7 hours OT pay........
Thanks for all of the feedback. At this point, we are supposed to receive the new pager today. I haven't heard anything further on it so we will see where it ends up.
But most of you are right... I've made a lot of concessions that are definitely not legal in one case and probably not legal in another... So asking me to make another one is too much.
This is exactly it. The employee should not have to make any concessions at all.
The employee is an hourly employee, as such, the employer is violating one or more laws in the treatment of this employee. I am guessing that the 'company' is fairly small, and the owner/manager may be ignorant of the laws or intentionally violating them.
The company/manager has no right to demand that the employee provide his/her own equipment to be 'on call' and to make or receive calls for company business.
Additionally, the company absolutely owes the hourly employee pay for the time spent working on company business.
Various state laws (in addition to federal requirements) may require that the employee be compensated for 'on-call' hours, *especially* if the employee is restricted as to where he/she may go during such 'on-call' hours, *regardless* of what hours anyone might think the employee 'should' be sleeping.
An employee being put in the position that the OP describes is being taken advantage of, and is NOT being 'petty' to complain about it and want to be compensated...and those of you who think otherwise, unfortunately C-D TOS does not permit me to fully describe my opinion.
Certainly there are those of us who may have, or at some time may have had, sufficient dedication to a company or job to do what the OP describes willingly, but no one should be *pressured* to do so against his/her will. Salaried Exempt employees typically receive higher salaries and/or perks in exchange for this type of inconvenience, and there are laws to protect hourly employees who do not receive such extra advantages.
The OP is completely justified in being upset.
My home phone has local calling service only, and no company has the right to demand I purchase a higher level of service to accommodate *their* business needs, my number is unlisted/unavailable and if an employer were to give it out to some other person they would feel my wrath. If I am 'out' and do not answer my phone, tough cookies, if they want me to stay home and listen for it to ring, they *will* have to pay me to do so. My cell phone is paid for by me, for my convenience. My employer does not get the number, and my cell phone may not even be turned on unless I need to make a call. If the company wants me to be available to take calls for company business, they *must* supply me with a phone that they pay for, and they *must* pay me for any time spent on company business, and/or being 'on-call', especially if I am restricted in any way on where I can go and what I can do. If they are usurping my time, they *must* pay, one way or another. If they aren't paying me, whether I'm home asleep, or at a second job, or half in the bag at a strip joint is none of their business.
Thanks for the support. I appreciate it and I do feel like this is taking advantage of me. I know it may seem odd to some that the line I draw is the phone, but it's the one that really bothers me... Even though the rest of it probably should bother me more. And I acknowledge that.
This is a foolish reason. It doesn't take long to change the settings at all. What type of phone do you have?
This is what should bother you. I would go after this with the Federal Dept. of Labor. And look for another job, because after the DOL contacts them, you will have a bulls eye on your back.
It's not the time it takes that is the issue... It's that I have to change all the settings, and how I use the phone, to turn my personal phone (that I pay for) into a work one. Combined with the fact that not only am I changing the phone but also working for free.
Just because I'm curious, did you know that you would be on-call and not paid for that on-call time when you took the job? Or was it communicated/put in place after you were hired?
Just because I'm curious, did you know that you would be on-call and not paid for that on-call time when you took the job? Or was it communicated/put in place after you were hired?
When I was hired, I was told I was hourly and that I would have a pager for on-call on a rotating basis. It honestly never occurred to me to ask if they would expect me to take and deal with work calls without being paid. This didn't come up until after I dealt with an issue on a weekend. I came in on Monday and asked how I would notate the time (about an hour) on my time sheet. I was told at that point that no one was paid for on call. I didn't say anything as for the first couple of times as the pager barely went off. Fast forward to now and it's 3-5 per week.
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