Reducing pay for Cell phone usage

jerzal

We are a small (5 person) company. 3 of us have cell phones paid by the company. In our company policy it states that any excess airtime above the alloted minutes on the plan will be reimbursed to the company by payroll deduction. anyway, we have been in business 3 years and this is the first year the CEO wants to enforce this rule. For me it is nothing big, $3. for one of the guys (not the CEO) it will be almost $400, and I know he will be devastated because it is christmas time, he'll need the $$ for gifts for his family, etc.
My first question is, are we allowed to do this? Even if we give the ee's notice and tell them the amount. They all know their cell phone limits and I tell them every month when they are over.

This really isn't an issue of using minutes for personal use, it is an issue of going over the minutes, not paying attention, and costing the company extra money.

Any advice on this will be appreciated. I feel funny doing this to people at Christmas time, even if they know "the rule." but I am not sure even if the rule is allowed and how to go about it.

Thanks.

Don D

>In our company policy it states that any excess airtime above the alloted minutes on the plan will be reimbursed to the company by payroll deduction.>

It's in your company policy. Some might say, though, that a signature of acknowledgement must exist.

marc

If the usage is on company business, I would have a hard time deducting the costs. If it was personal usage, I would do it in a heartbeat. Keeping in mind that the legality of payroll deductions is getting more and more regulated. Many states require a specific authorization with the exact amount to be deducted, signed contemporaneously by the EE.

If this is a sales use, how can someone not involved in schmoozing the customer determine which ones get the quality minutes?

Whatever

First of all, if they are going over on company business, the ee should not be penalized. For those who go over on company business, you might consider changing the plan.
I have not problem penalizing people who go over on personal use. However, I think it would be wrong to do it retroactively. A warning should be issued that from now on, anyone with excess airtime will have to pay when the bill is received.

MrCreosote

You wrote that, "this is the first year the CEO wants to enforce this rule." If it has never been enforced it's not really a rule. I think you should treat it like a new rule with an introduction and appropriate warnings. In Illinois, I think that an employee who contested your policy would win. The form for filing illegal salary deduction complaints with the state asks "Did you authorize the deduction(s) in writing?" Don't know about PA.

Shadowfax

For an extra 10 bucks a month you could gett unlimited time. Why not do tat? Win - win all wayu around. If e/ees also use for personal, have them contribute the ten bucks (or whatever) and take care of everybody, including the co.'s needs.

jerzal

thanks everyone for your responses. I talked to my boss about it and we aren't going to do it this year.

Jenn