policies/mobile & Landline Communications Policy Chief Officers, Teaching Staff, Local Government Employees and Craft Operatives Mobile & Landline Communications Policy Introduction 1.1 The Comhairle recognises that the use of mobiles provides communications an essential part of some aspects of normal working life. This Policy outlines how the use of mobile and landline communications will be managed within the authority. 1.2 All mobile devices supplied by the Comhairle remain the property of the Comhairle and, along with their content, will be subject to regular audit and monitoring. Users must take appropriate action to protect the device from being lost or stolen. All users must adhere to the procedures outlined in this document. Scope 2.1 This Policy applied to all persons who use mobile facilities owned by the Comhairle, including all employees, Members of the Comhairle, temporary staff including those on work experience and outside contractors. 2.2 The Policy will apply whenever users are working for the Comhairle, whether it is in the Council Offices or working remotely at another location. 2.3 The Policy covers: mobile phones mobile email devices laptops IPT phone (office landline) Equipment Procurement 3.1 The Director of Finance and Corporate Resources, in accordance with financial regulations, is responsible, through the Procurement Unit and in liaison with the I.T. Unit, for the procurement of all communication hardware and software. The I.T. Unit will specify the models and accessories for communications equipment that will be purchased, and will review these as appropriate on an annual basis. 3.2 Disposal of all equipment will only be undertaken by I.T. staff. All equipment is to be returned to I.T. staff who will liaise with the Procurement Unit regarding disposal. It is the responsibility of the Line Manager to ensure compliance with disposal requirements. Equipment Allocation 4.1 Mobile phones Employees should fall into one of the following categories before being considered for a mobile telephone: Participate in an on-call rota Be a lone worker where a risk assessment has been undertaken to identify the need for a mobile telephone Work away from their office or base for a large proportion of their working time and be required to make telephone call or have access to email but do not have access to other facilities Required to be contactable during working hours while not at their desk or near a Comhairle landline Required to be contactable outwith working hours in an emergency
An employee cannot receive a home telephone allowance and also be in receipt of a mobile telephone. There will be no allowances for broadband unless there is no mobile phone reception in the area and there is an essential operational requirement for the employee to use broadband for business use away from the workplace. Requests for broadband allowance will be determined by Human Resources Sub Committee. The request for a mobile phone with all supporting documentation will be sent first to the Procurement Unit and then to the Human Resources Section who will assess the request against the evaluation criteria of the job. If the job is deemed to be essential for mobile phone use the terms and conditions of the employee will be amended to reflect this and the employee notified. The request will then be passed to the Director of Finance and Corporate Resources to arrange equipment procurement. All upgrades and replacements must follow the procedure outlined in this paragraph. 4.2 The request forms are initially submitted to the Procurement Unit to ensure full traceability and a streamlined process. The Procurement Unit will be the main point of contact and has overall responsibility for the processing of mobile phone requests. 4.3 Mobile email devices Employees Mobile email devices may be issued to those employees with job requirements which include one of the following criteria: works in the interest of the efficiency of service provision employees who spend an appreciable amount of their working day out of the office and who the Head of Service deem to require real time access to emails and online diaries. The request and all supporting documentation will be sent to the Procurement Unit, who will submit request to the Human Resources Section to assess the request against the evaluation criteria of the job. If the job is deemed to be essential for mobile email use the terms and conditions of the employee will be amended to reflect this and the employee notified. The request will then be passed to the Director of Finance and Corporate Resources to arrange equipment procurement. All upgrades and replacements must follow the procedure outlined in this paragraph. 4.4 No employee will receive a mobile device and qualify for a home telephone allowance. However, actual cost of calls on a landline will be reimbursed even if the employee has a mobile device. A broadband allowance will only be paid upon approval of requests by Human Resources Sub Committee. 4.5 Mobile email devices Members Mobile email devices will be issued to Members upon request. 4.6 Laptops Laptops will be issued in line with remote working guidelines. 4.7 IPT Phone I.T. will issue an appropriate model of IPT phone dependent upon the usage. 4.8 Fax Machines I.T. will not purchase fax machines and actively encourage staff to use the fax capabilities of the IPT system.
Personal Use and Payment 5.1 It is recognised that staff may wish to be contacted via personal mobile phone whilst at work and the Comhairle are prepared to accommodate this as far as is reasonably practicable. However, any contact, either by phone call or a messaging service must not disrupt an employee s ability to under their duties and responsibilities, and/or must not adversely affect the work of colleagues. Ring tones/message alarms must be set to low/vibrate and personal mobile phones should not be taken into/or should be switched off during attendance at any meetings. 5.2 Staff must not make numerous/lengthy personal calls/texts whilst at work, although such phone calls/messages may be made during any official break periods. 5.3 If a concern regarding a staff member s personal use of a mobile phone whilst at work becomes apparent the employee may be instructed, by his/her line manager, that his/her mobile phone will be required to be switched off or switched to voicemail, call diversion or a messaging service during working hours. Should such an instruction be made only in exceptional circumstances will the employee be able to request that their mobile remains switched on, e.g. where a member of the employee s family or child s school may need to contact the employee urgently. For all other purposes the Comhairle s switchboard number or the direct line phone number of the employee should be provided for contact use. 5.4 If, for any reason, a personal mobile phone is used for work purposes the cost of the call can only be reimbursed if the use was previously agreed with their line manager and an itemised bill is presented identifying the call made. 5.5 The Comhairle will allow personal use of work mobile phones. Calls and texts should be kept to a minimum. All personal calls must be paid for by the employee (in accordance with the procedure defined by Finance and Corporate Resources). User Guidelines 6.1 Employees are required to keep their Comhairle mobile phones safe at all times and a security code must be issued to secure the phone against use by others. The access code should be logged with the Manager or issuing department. If a mobile phone is lost, stolen or damaged in any way the employee must immediately report this to their line manager. 6.2 If an employee leaves the employment of the Comhairle the mobile phone and any accessories supplied with it should be returned to their line manager on or near, but no later than, their last working day. Health & Safety 6.3 In line with legislation drivers of any vehicle must not use a hand-held mobile phone or similar hand-held device whilst in control of the vehicle. In addition, the Dept. for Transport have advised that a driver may risk prosecution for failing to have proper control of a vehicle if the driver uses a hands-free phone when driving. If there is an incident, the use of any phone or similar device might justify prosecution for careless or dangerous driving. RoSPA have stated that drivers are four times more likely to have an accident whilst operating a mobile phone whilst driving. For this reason, other than in an emergency, the Comhairle policy for the use of mobile phones is that neither hand-held nor hands-free models are to be used by the driver whilst any vehicle is under his/her control on Comhairle business. Drivers should activate the phone voicemail function prior to any journey and respond to any messages or missed calls when the vehicle has been parked safely. 6.4 Employees should familiarise themselves with the most cost effective method of making calls. This information will be placed on the intranet.
6.5 Any device with an integrated camera may not be used for taking pictures other than for work purposes. Comhairle staff should not take pictures of children without the consent of a parent or guardian and these must not be used for any purpose other than that for which agreement has been given. Do not take or store pictures, or send or store text messages containing sexual or illegal material or material that is offensive in any way whatsoever. Disciplinary measures may be taken where a camera is misused. 6.6 Employees must ensure that any files or property of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar are properly looked after whilst in their possession and must not be used for any purposes other than work. The security of confidential files and documents must be ensured by the employee. The principles of the Data Protection Act must be adhered to. 6.7 Employees must not leave messages containing sensitive information on answering machines since these may be replayed by unauthorised persons, stored on communal systems or stored incorrectly as a result of misdialling. 6.8 Employees should be aware of potential issues of using fax machines and guarding against confidentiality issues: Unauthorised access to built in message stores to receive messages. Deliberate or accidental programming of machines to send messages to specific numbers. Sending documents and messages to the wrong number either by misdialling or using the wrong stored number. 6.9 Employees on sick leave will not be required to use a mobile phone provided by the Comhairle and employees on long term sick leave will have a mobile phone provided by the authority withdrawn for the period of leave. Etiquette 7.1 Employees should: Be considerate when using a mobile phone, Where possible talk out of earshot of others and ask the caller to ring back later if there is a possibility of being overheard and the conversation is of a confidential nature, Where appropriate turn off mobile phones whilst attending training sessions or meetings. If it is expected that the employee would normally be accessible by mobile phone and they are attending such an event for more than a morning or afternoon, the office should be notified that they are unavailable and the likely duration, Divert calls to colleagues or set up a message with contact details when on annual leave. Privacy and Confidentiality 8.1 Users should note that no absolute guarantee or privacy can be given to telephony logs or data stored on phones. Operational requirements, such as recharging telephony charges, maintenance or investigating excessive phone bills, may lead to systems administrators or Managers being exposed to the content of phone logs and data stored on mobile phones. 8.2 Content of phone logs and data stored on phones may also be examined during the course of properly authorised investigations into breaches of the Comhairle s policies and procedures or the law.
8.3 Any information obtained by members of staff working in ICT or Managers during the course of monitoring will be treated as confidential. However, users should note that where routine systems monitoring indicates a breach of the Comhairle s policies and procedures or the law, ICT staff members or Managers will bring this information to the attention of the Comhairle s relevant Head of Service. Internal audit will, as part of their normal audit processes, perform random samples and checks on phone logs. Monitoring of Use 9.1 Telephony services, both mobile and the corporate phone system provided in Comhairle buildings, are installed expressly for the purpose of supporting the Comhairle s business. Users must have no expectation of privacy in anything they create, store, send or receive on the Comhairle s phone systems. Users calls, telephony logs and data stored on phones can be monitored without prior notification if the Comhairle deems this necessary. If there is evidence that users are not adhering to the guidelines set out in this protocol, the Comhairle receives the right to take disciplinary action, including termination of employment and/or legal action where appropriate. 9.2 ICT and Managers keep records in order to monitor usage. These indicate the dates, times, recipients and senders of all calls, texts, etc. ICT staff and Managers do not normally inspect any of this information to check on personal use nor do they routinely inspect the contents of logs. however, to maintain security and integrity, ICT and Managers reserve the right under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 to investigate phone logs and data stored on phones for the purpose of preventing or detecting crime. The content of phone logs and data stored on telephony devices may be accessed in the following circumstances: There is a suspicion that the Comhairle s ICT facilities have been misused or that this protocol which governs the use of phones has been contravened. At the request of the police, where it has been established that such co-operation with the police is in direct furtherance of a criminal investigation. Detecting unusual trends in use of telephony services. Establishing the existence of facts relevant to the business. Ascertaining or demonstrating standards which ought to be achieved by those using the facilities. Preventing or detecting crime. Ensuring effective operation of telephony facilities. 9.3 Users should be aware that it is not possible to differentiate between business and personal use, acceptable use is defined within the protocols. All usage may be subject to monitoring. 9.4 Information obtained through any phone log or data stored on phones monitoring will not be used for any purpose other than that for which it was collected unless such monitoring reveals activity of a nature that no responsible employer could reasonably ignore. 9.5 In using the Comhairle s mobile facilities as defined above users accept all the relevant policies, protocols and procedures in relating to their usage. Consequently, users have agreed to a right to inspection by ICT staff, Internal Audit staff and Managers under the circumstances explained above. 9.6 The rights of employees under the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Human Rights Act 1998 are not affected.
Breach of the Policy 10.1 Breaches of this Policy will be dealt with under the Comhairle s Disciplinary Policy and Procedure. For employees issued with a Comhairle mobile phone breaches of the Policy may result in the Comhairle issued mobile phone being withdrawn and appropriate action being taken. Review 11.1 The Policy will be reviewed on a regular basis in light of operating experience and/or changes in legislation. Related Policies Information Security Policy Code of Practice on the Use of Internet, E-mail and the Comhairle s I.T resources Security Policy for laptops and portable devices. Human Resources March 2011