Loading...
3.11. SR 05-02-2011REQUEST FOR ACTION TO ITEM NUMBER Ma or and Ci Council 3.11. AGENDA SECTION MEETING DATE PREPARED BY Consent Ma 2, 2011 Bob Pearson, IT Mana er ITEM DESCRIPTION REVIEWED By Update to Mobile Phone Policy Lori ohnson, Ci Administrator REVIEWED BY ACTION REQUESTED City Council is asked to consider approval of the updated mobile phone policy. BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION Earlier this year the Council reviewed the draft mobile phone policy which was last updated in 2001 and provided feedback on the policy. The Council was interested in updating the language about data practices with regard to City business on employee owned phones. With the attached updated policy that has been included in section A. FINANCIAL IMPACT With the new policy each employee currently with a phone or wanting a phone will fill out the justification form indicating review of the policy and justification for a mobile phone. These results will be incorporated into the 2012 budget process. ATTACHMENTS • Mobile phone policy Action Motion by Second by Vote Follow Up C:\Users\jmiller\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook\GWL3I79K\mobilephonepolicyupdate.doc ,~ /,. ,,,,,,,,.; MOBILE PHONE POLICY Elk River PURPOSE: The purpose of this policy is to provide a set of expectations and guidelines for all city staff in the usage and cost effective administration of mobile phones. In addition to being a telephone, modern mobile phones also support many additional functions, such as text messages, email, Internet access, camera, and GPS navigation. Lower-end mobile phones that still support functions such as texting and cameras are often referred to as feature phones. Whereas high-end mobile phones that offer more advanced computing like email, scheduling and downloadable applications are referred to as smartphones. These devices are provided to designated positions and employees in order to improve productivity, enhance customer service to our citizens, and/or to enhance incident response services. POLICY: A. A_nnlicability This po y overs city issued mobile phones as well as preauthorized use of employee owned mobile phones for city business. It is the policy of the city to maintain the right to access and disclose any and all messages communicated through electronic means when city-issued equipment is used. Regardless of the intent of the message (business or personal), any employee involved has no right to privacy, or to the expectation of privacy, concerning the content of any message or the intended destination of any message when using city-issued equipment. It is also the policy of the city to maintain the right to access and disclose all city business messages communicated through electronic means when employee owned equipment is used. City business conducted on personal mobile phones is subject to the Data Practices Act and as such can be subject to a data request. Decisions regarding the use of city mobile phones that axe not explicitly stated herein will be left to the discretion of the appropriate Department Head, as authorized by the City Administrator. Department Heads are authorized to administer, provide guidance on, and assure compliance with the features of this policy. B. City-Issued Feature Phone Eligibility Criteria Functions or employees who are eligible for assignment of city-issued feature phones are those designated by the City Administrator as requested by their Department Head. General criteria to be used when allocating feature phones include: 1. Travel -Employees who frequently travel, work in the field, or are out of the office and need to be in contact with staff, citizens, or other city business associates. 2. Emergency Response -Public safety positions, as necessary to provide immediate and direct telephone communications with citizens, outside agencies cooperating in operations, or other resource entities outside of city government. 3. Other -Employees who axe required by their department to be accessible at all times by electronic means. C. City-Issued Smartphones Eligibility Criteria Functions or employees who are eligible for assignment of city-issued smartphones are those designated by the City Administrator as requested by their Department Head. These criteria will be in addition to the criteria required for feature phones. General criteria to be used when allocating smartphones include: Email -Employees who have critical City business that will be delayed without timely responses to email. a. When they are out of the office b. As part of a response to an emergency 2. Applications -Employees who are required by their department to run smartphone applications D. Smartphone Requirements Because of the technical nature of these smartphones, the following additional conditions must apply when a city provided smartphone is given to a staff member: 1. Because the smartphone is really a handheld computer, the employee agrees to adhere to all of the proper use conditions as spelled out in the Personnel Policy Manual. The smartphone will be viewed no different than any other computer owned by the City of Elk River and as such any inappropriate usage of the smartphone may result in disciplinary action up to and including dismissal. 2. If confidential or security sensitive data is to be stored or received on the smartphone, the employee will take steps to password lock the phone after a period of inactivity and to store data in an encrypted format on the smartphone. The IT Department will provide information regarding the need to protect the smartphone and can assist with the method to protect information on the smartphone. 3. The employee will not add any additional software on their desktop/laptop computer or request network modifications to support the usage of a specific smartphone device. All City of Elk River smartphones will be configured to securely synchronize with the city's Microsoft Exchange email system. The IT Department will support the setup and ongoing operation of approved smartphones. 4. The City of Elk River has no general expectation fox employees to check or respond to emails during non-work hours unless explicitly requested by the employee's supervisor. Employees shall have no expectation of overtime or comp time for checking emails during non-work hours. E. Feature phone Eligibility Criteria. -Employee Owned Employees who qualify for an individually issued feature phone may request to use their personal feature phone for city business and be reimbursed on a fixed monthly basis if approved by department head and provided they agree to the following conditions: 1. Employee agrees to accept the fixed, monthly reimbursement. 2. The employee agrees to make available to appropriate city staff and outside contacts the direct dial number and any direct-connect contact information (if that service is applicable) just as they would if it were acity-issued feature phone. 3. Employees will take responsibility for maintaining and providing their own feature phone. If the employee should lose or damage the feature phone, even on work hours, the city will not replace the feature phone. 4. Employees will take responsibility for having a provider with all of the technical features necessary to tie them into the city's preferred feature phone carrier (i.e. if an employee needs the direct connect/walkie-talkie feature to stay in touch with their group or function, the employee may need to have the same carrier as the city-issued phones). 5. Employees will be solely responsible for payment of all charges incurred on the feature phone plan. 6. The feature phone service must provide a telephone number that is local to the Twin Cities calling area. No long distance charges shall be incurred by the city to place a call to the feature phone\smartphone. F. Smartphone Eligibility Criteria -Employee Owned Employees who qualify for an individually issued smartphone may instead request to use their personal smartphone to connect up to the city's email system and be reimbursed for a portion of their data service plan on a fixed monthly basis if approved by department head and provided they agree to the following conditions: 1. Employee agrees to accept the fined, monthly reimbursement. 2. If confidential or sensitive data is to be stored or received on the smartphone, the employee will take steps to password lock the phone after a period of inactivity and to store data in an encrypted format on the smartphone. The IT Department will provide information regarding the need to protect the smartphone and can assist with the method to protect information on the smartphone. 3. The employee will not add any additional software on their desktop/laptop computer or request network modifications to support the usage of a specific smartphone device. Employee owned smartphones will be configured to securely synchronize with the city's Microsoft Exchange email system. The IT Department will support the setup and ongoing operation of approved smartphones. 4. The City of Elk River has no general expectation for employees to check or respond to emails during non-work hours unless explicitly requested by the employee's supervisor. Employees should have no expectation of overtime or comp time for checking a-mails during non-work hours. 5. All smartphones that synchronize to the City's email system must be configured for being remotely wiped in case of being lost or stolen. G. Payment For use of Employee Owned Mobile Phone Employees who are approved to receive a feature phone reimbursement will be paid $15 per month. Employees who are approved to receive a smartphone reimbursement will be paid $30 per month. Reimbursements will be paid quarterly. Finance will need copies of invoices along with a completed expense reimbursement form. H. Employee reimbursement to the Citv A. If any expenses are incurred by the group plan over its normal flat rate expense due to excessive personal usage individuals will be required to reimburse the City. The reimbursement will be proportional to the each individual's personal airtime usage. B. The city recognizes that any personal use of feature phones is minimal and infrequent and therefore de minunis by IRS regulations. Therefore, the use of city-issued feature phones by employees is not a taxable benefit to that employee. I. Responsibilities All Department Heads or designees should: 1. Insure that Justification and Acknowledgement form has been filled out and presented to City Administrator. 2. Insure that all persons assigned acity-issued mobile phone or who agree to be compensated for business usage of their personal mobile phone is provided access to a copy of this policy. 3. Conduct monthly review of mobile phone invoices within their respective departments to insure accountability. 4. Conduct annual reviews of assigned devices to determine if such assignments continue to be justified. 5. Inform the IT Manager or designee of all reassignments of mobile phones. 6. Inform the IT Manager of any break in service whereby the expense for the mobile phone can be eliminated. J. Responsibilities of Employees All employees who are authorized to use city-issued or their own private mobile phones are responsible for the following: 1. Signing the Justification/Acknowledgement form as a confirmation that they have received and understand the directives of this policy. 2. Must have the feature phone turned on and with them during working or on-call hours. 3. It is the employee's responsibility to notify the IT Department immediately if their phone is lost or stolen. 4. Insuring the physical security of the city-issued mobile phone. 5. Insuring that all communications are kept to the briefest duration possible. 6. Keeping personal communications to a minimum. 7. Insuring that any personal use does not detract from the employee's availability for completion of assigned duties. 8. Employees may be financially responsible for the assigned feature phone if: • Equipment is lost or damaged while in the care of employee, as a result of the employee's negligence. K. Use of Electronic Communications Devices and Safe Driving All city employees are expected to drive with safety as the first consideration. This includes driving safely while operating a mobile phone. Recommendations for safe handling of vehicle- based calling from the wireless communications industry include the following: 1. When driving, use voice-activated dialing, or have frequently called numbers pre- programmed into the device, or consider pulling off the road to dial (or ask a passenger to dial). 2. If the job duties do not require it, do not use any wireless communications device while driving if there are hazardous road or traffic conditions. 3. Avoid multiple tasks when driving, such as trying to take notes while using a wireless communications device. 4. As a reminder, it is illegal to text-message, email or access the Web on a wireless device while driving in Minnesota (including while stopped in traffic). Employees are responsible for, and will be held accountable for, safe driving at all times. L. Acknowledgement All city employees who are assigned or use acity-issued mobile phone or that are reimbursed for business usage of their personal mobile phone will be provided a copy of this Policy and shall acknowledge receipt and understanding of the provisions outlined herein.