Cell Phone Use by Employees

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drivingsafetycellphone

If your employees use cell phones — whether their own phones or phones issued by the company — for work, you as the employer may want to consider having a policy in your company’s Employee Handbook prohibiting them from doing so while driving.

The state of Nevada passed Senate Bill No. 140 last year and now is enforcing that new law. It makes it a “crime for a person to manually type or enter text into a cellular telephone or other similar device, or to send or read data using any such device, while operating a vehicle.” The new law goes on to prohibit “a person from using such a [cellular telephone] for voice communication unless the device is used with an accessory which allows the person to communicate without using his or her hands.”

What you might not be aware of if that first time offenders pay $50, with the second offense costing $100 and the third, or subsequent offense within seven (7) years, $250. Ouch!

Is there a phrase in your handbook which states “who” is responsible for paying for those offenses if the employee is working at the time he/she is pulled over?

Studies have repeatedly shown that using a cell phone while driving is dangerous. And, if an employee causes an accident while doing business on a cell phone, your company could be held liable for damages. Consider these examples:

  • A stock broker was making a cold call to a potential client while driving when he struck and killed a motorcyclist. Although the broker was using his own cell phone and driving to a non-work event, the plaintiff argued that the brokerage firm should be found liable because employees were encouraged to use their cell phones for work and didn’t train them on safety issues. The brokerage eventually settled the case for a mere half a million dollars.
  • An employee of International Paper was using her company cell phone when she rear-ended another driver on a local freeway, causing injuries that eventually required the other driver to lose her arm. The company paid more than $5 million to settle that case.

What Should an Employer’s Policy Include:

Your policy on employee use of cell phones should:

  • prohibit employees from using cell phones while driving
  • tell employees what to do if they receive a call while driving (for example, tell the caller that the employee will call back), and
  • address hands-free technology. For example, if your company will allow employees to use hands-free technology while driving, you should issue them hands-free equipment. You should also explain that safety remains a concern: Employees should keep all calls while driving brief, and should end any call that distracts them from the road.

OR: Because of the employer risks involved today, you may want to consider stating the following policy prohibiting any use of cellular devices:

“(Company Name) is aware that employees currently may be using their cell phones for business purposes while driving in their personal vehicle and use their personal cell phone or similar device. Due to research that indicates that cell phone use while driving is dangerous, and may even approach the equivalent danger of driving while drunk, according to some studies, the company prohibits employee use of personal cellular phones, either hands on or hands free, or similar devices, for business purposes related in any way to our company, while driving.

This prohibition of cell phone or similar device use while driving includes receiving or placing calls, text messaging, surfing the Internet, receiving or responding to email, checking for phone messages, or any other purpose related to your employment; the business; our customers; our patients; our vendors; volunteer activities, meetings, or civic responsibilities performed for or attended in the name of the company; or any other company related activities not named here while driving. You may not use your cellular phone or similar device to receive or place calls, text messages, surf the Internet, check phone messages, or receive or respond to email while driving if you are in any way doing activities that are related to your employment. “

If your company already has an employee handbook, AdvanStaff is happy to make a modification to any current cell phone use policy. If your company has not considered an employee handbook, this may be a reason to consider implementing one.

Please contact AdvanStaff’s HR department with any questions or concerns.