An authenticator app on a phone, like the one in the story.
It's not always this cut and dry, though. Where this blurry line is is uncertain. And modern tech has made this line even blurrier. Things like software security authentication apps and security apps that turn your phone into keyless entry for building smart locks. These are usually workplace functions that your company relies on, and that might even be used to track your activity, but that live on your devices. And when you're using these every day and not just “occasionally,” where does that get taken too far?
Still, there are other instances where occasional use might be doing this. Like maybe answering a phone call from your boss during an important week of a project. While you may be technically correct in your refusal to do this, if your relationship with your employer is good and your employer is flexible with the things they let you do, then a little flexibility going back the other direction just makes a whole lot of sense. Flexibility begets flexibility.
But if your employer is really rigid about your working hours and tries to scrape you for every second of your paid time. Making demands and just being generally authoritative and inflexible. Well, do you really owe them flexibility over things like the personal use of your cell phone?
“Theyre basically requiring us to own specific personal property to do our jobs…”
This employee was left wondering whether or not they should be making an issue about their company authentication app that is used to log into company systems. The company says it is for security purposes, but they aren't providing work phones for the app to live on. This isn't optional either, when they enquired with HR about it, HR let them know that it was a requirement.
Now they're wondering if it's even legal for the company to mandate the use of their personal devices. They shared their question with this online community, looking for advice from other workers who had dealt with the same thing. See their story below, along with some of the responses from the community.
An employee uses their employer's authenticator app on their phone.
Actor performance of story events.
Can a company force you to use your personal phone for work authentication without reimbursement
LOCATION: Illinois
source: HarveyIngram18
My employer recently rolled out a new system where we have to use an authenticator app on our personal phones to log into company systems. They say it's for security but they won't provide work phones and they won't pay anything toward our phone bills either.
I asked HR about it and they said it's a requirement now and if we don't set it up we can't access our work email or internal tools. A few people in my department don't have smartphones or have really old ones that can't run the app, and HR told them they need to upgrade their devices on their own.
This feels wrong to me because they're basically requiring us to own specific personal property to do our jobs. I looked at my employee handbook and there's nothing in there about phone requirements. Is this actually legal for them to mandate without any kind of compensation or alternative option? I'm not trying to make a big deal out of it but it seems like if they want us to use our phones for work purposes, they should at least cover part of the cost.
Has anyone else dealt with something like this or know if theres any law that covers it?
Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.