[Publib] Cell phones in libraries - some responses

[Diedre Conkling]

I meant to reply to this message earlier because here in Oregon we have a bit of a problem supplying cell phones for public employees.  We are hoping to get a fix to the problem during the current Legislative Session.

Right now, if a public employee is provided with a cell phone they may only use it for work related activities.  It is NOT their personal cell phone.  A cell phone may not be given as part of an employment contract.  This is a ruling from the office of Government Standards and Practices.  They don't seem to get that using a cell phone is now basically like using a land line phone.  The majority of us would allow staff to make calls home using our land line phones.  (Of course this use has to be done in a way that does not interfere with work.)  With our current cell phone contracts it costs no more for the phone to be used for both personal use and work than it does to use the phone just for work.  

Many people solve this by carrying two phones.  I solve it by using my own cell phone for work related activities.  Again, it costs me no more to do this than my contract costs any way.  Many organizations just ignore the issue and include cell phones in their employment contracts for administrators and others that need cell phones.

This is one of many weird decisions made by Government Standards and Practices in recent years which is why there has been a commission looking at the entire ethics legislation and many, many bills are coming before our Legislature this session.

So, this is not a local issue but a state issue.

--
Diedre Conkling
     
  Lincoln County Library District
  P.O. Box 2027, Newport, OR  97365
  Phone & Fax:  541-265-3066
  http://lcld.library-blogs.net/
  Work:  diedre at beachbooks.org
  Home:  diedrec at charter.net
   

---- David King <davidleeking at gmail.com> wrote: 

=============
A few people asked me to send responses to this question to the list, so
here ya go!

First, here's what I asked: Question - what do libraries do for staff who
want/need cell phones as part of their job? Do you buy them for staff, do
you have a policy limiting use to just work-related things, do you pay back
a certain dollar amount when staff use personal cell phones for work-related
things...

And now for the responses:

**************************************

We buy them and pay all expenses.

Christine Lind Hage, Director
Rochester Hills Public Library

*************************************

Seattle Public:

SPL provides cell phones to certain staff who need them for their job (the
Library determines who they are).  They are supposed to only be used for
work, but an occasional personal call is usually overlooked as long as it
doesn't increase the monthly charge the library pays.  We don't reimburse if
someone uses a personal phone for work-related use. (We're a union shop, so
we discourage people working off the clock, and cell phones are usually only
given to people like security, facilities and management).

****************************************

The City of McAllen gives us administrators an allowance (around $30 per
month) that's included in our paychecks once a month. We then pay our own
cell phone bills.

******************************************

Johnson County Library:

we do buy cell phones for employees, but they are really work-only. That
wasn't always the case--in the past, it wasn't a big deal to make personal
calls on county phones since we had unlimited minutes, but lately due to
audit concerns, we (the employees) were encouraged to go back to our
personal plans/phones and the county reimburses us according to pre-approved
amounts. So, I gave back my county phone, and now they give me $35 a month
after I turn in my phone bill.

*******************************************

L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library:

At both my current an recent jobs you can often find me with two cell
phones. One is the "work" phone and the other is the "personal" phone. The
reason why I have made that decision is that the records of phone calls on
the work phone are subject to Freedom of Information Act/Public Records
disclosures. In one community, the local newspaper requested, fought, and
got the phone log for the Mayor's city-paid cell phone. There were
repercussions.

This also helps keep the personal life and the work life separate. I make it
a point to use the work phone for only work items. Anything even vaguely
personal takes place on the personal cell phone.

-- 
David King
davidleeking.com - blog
http://davidleeking.com/etc - videoblog