Cell Phones and Affirmative Action......Oh boy

March22Collector

I apologize if these two questions have been asked before. I looked through the archives but could not find the answers I needed. These questions came to me from the manager of our business centers (located in California, Florida and Ohio).

Issue #1:

Currently, the sales associates at our business centers are issued cell phones. They are told that they are to use the phones for business but if they need to use them for personal use (as long as it's reasonable) they are allowed. My company gets the total cell phone bill and pays it. As you can guess, some of the cell phone bills are getting out of hand. Is there a way where we can tell the sales associates that we will pay for a certain number of minutes but if they go over that number they will be responsible? Would you give me some suggestions on better ways to get control of this situation? Would we be able to take the difference between what is allowed and what is used as a payroll deduction? If so, what steps should we take and how would that be handled for the states of California, Florida and Ohio? From what I've read in this newsgoup, I'm thinking I can make it a payroll deduction, but only after I've gotten a signed statement from the employee agreeing to it...?

Issue #2:

In our business, we sell products through our business centers to distributors. The distributors then sell the product to another facility. We currently have a distributor who has approached us about buying our product with the sole purpose of selling them to the military. Would that put us in the position of being a sub-contractor in a government contract and therefore responsible for developing, implementing and administering the Drug Free Workplace Act and an Affirmative Action program if the contract is worth $50,000 or more annually? Would your answer be the same if a current distributor decided to start selling to the military?


I appreciate any assistance you can give me on these issues. Thanks!!

Don D

My answer to your number 2 is that your scenario will very likely make you a 2nd tier subcontractor. Assuming the middle guy who buys from you meets the threshold of being a prime contractor, then in all likelihood, those he buys from are also bound by executive order 11246. There may be an out for you, but there's a strong likelihood. I hope there's a hole in that web for you.

jpepler

I would recommend changing your cell phone policy stating the phone is for business use only or permit XX minutes or $$ amount for personal use per month.

If the personal calls exceed this amount, the balance is the individuals responsibility to reimburse the company.

-or-

The individual pays the bill each month and submits an expense report for reimbursement along with the itemized bill.

I find people to be pretty honest and think they would take responsibility for their personal calls. Also, it would probably minimize the personal use knowing that they have to pay for the calls.

I don't know the answer to your Affirmative Action question.

sonny

#1

We had the same problem. The way it was handled was we upped the plan to include more minutes. Each manager agreed to pay $10.00 per month towards the phone (before, they paid nothing) It is pay roll deducted and there is a sign off. It seems to have worked and there have been no further problems.

#2

I agree with Don D

sonny

P.S. We are in Florida

NaeNae55

How many cell phones do you have out there and how many are abusing your policy? We had only a few out and one abusing, so we sat down and talked with this person. We pointed out that we wanted this to be a small benefit, but we did not want to continue to foot such large bills. We asked the employee to make sure he really needed to use the phone for personal use before doing so. We agreed to monitor his use for the next 3 months, and if no improvement we would have to require the phone be used for business reasons only with supporting documentation to prove all calls. We pointed out that this would cause other employees to lose the benefit, and the additional costs of monitoring the phone might cause us to waive providing the phones completely. When we first sat down with this employee the claim was that it was hardly ever used for personal use, but a discussion of the last 3 bills changed that view to something more realistic. The employee agreed to be more careful about how many calls were personal, and we had no further problems.

A few years later we had to terminate our policy (and a few employees) due to financial considerations. So... I can't tell you it worked forever, but it did work while we needed it. I think it depends upon the employee.

March22Collector

It's a very small percentage of people that are abusing the cell phones. But it is enough that I believe we may take a look at our policy.

Thanks to all those who replied, I appreciate it.