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4.8. SR 11-16-2020 Request for Action To Item Number Mayor and City Council 4.8 Agenda Section Meeting Date Prepared by Consent November 16, 2020 Cal Portner, City Administrator Item Description Reviewed by Mobile Phone Policy Update Lori Ziemer, Finance Director Reviewed by Action Requested Approve, by motion, the attached Mobile Phone Policy. Background/Discussion Technology and service demands resulted in a mobile phone policy which was adopted by council motion in 2011. The policy included both smart phone and feature phone issuance, and reimbursement for personal phone use. Management staff are primarily authorized smartphones with their advanced features and maintenance staff were authorized the feature phones (flip phones). Through our former service provider, Sprint, the feature phones were free and their basic cell plan for calls and texting were $32. The original policy also allowed for a monthly reimbursement of $30 for smartphone users and $15 for feature phone users. The monthly reimbursement was a mutual benefit as the city did not have to inventory and maintain phones and had a savings in cellular plans while employees did not have to carry an additional phone along with their personal cell. In 2019, the city switched providers to T-Mobile at a considerable annual cost savings. Under T-Mobile, it was less expensive to have a lower level smartphone instead of feature phones, so the city switched to issuing the smartphones. The policy update removes the references to feature phones, clarifies, and updates language and terminology and removes the phone use while driving as Minnesota now has a “hands free” driving law. Financial Impact N/A Mission/Policy/Goal Attachments  Mobile Phone Policy – New  Mobile Phone Policy – May 2, 2011 The Elk River Vision A welcoming community with revolutionary and spirited resourcefulness, exceptional service, and community engagement that encourages and inspires prosperity. Updated: August 2020 Mobile Phone Policy 1 Mobile Phone Policy Purpose This policy provides expectations and guidelines for city employees regarding the use and cost-effective administration of mobile phones. Mobile phones are provided to designated employees to improve productivity, enhance customer service, and/or to enhance incident response services. This policy also provides expectations and guidelines for the partial reimbursement for personal mobile phone use when the use of personal mobile phones for official city business is of mutual benefit to the city and employee. Definitions A. Mobile Phone – a mobile smartphone device that combines cellular and mobile computing functions into one unit including, but not limited to, text messages, email, internet access, camera, downloadable applications, and GPS navigation. B. Personal Mobile Phone – an employee-owned mobile phone. Policy A. Applicability This policy covers city-issued mobile phones as well as preauthorized use of personal mobile phones for city business. The city maintains the right to access and disclose all messages communicated through electronic means when a city-issued mobile phone is used. Regardless of the intent of the message (business or personal), employees have 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 a city-issued mobile phone. The city also maintains the right to access and disclose all city business messages communicated through electronic means when a personal mobile phone is used. City business conducted on personal mobile phones is subject to the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act and is subject to a data request. Decisions regarding the use of mobile phones that are not explicitly stated herein are at the discretion of the City Administrator or his/her designee. Department Directors are authorized to administer, provide guidance on, and assure compliance with this policy. B. City-issued Mobile Phone Eligibility Criteria Functions or employees eligible for assignment of city-issued mobile phones are designated by the City Administrator as requested by a Department Director. Criteria considered to issue mobile 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, residents, or other city business associates. 2. Emergency Response – Public safety positions, as necessary, to provide immediate and direct communications with residents, outside agencies cooperating in operations, or other resource entities outside of city government. 3. On Call/Other – Employees who are required to be accessible at all times by electronic means. 4. Email – Employees who have critical city business requiring timely responses. a. When out of the office. b. As part of a response to an emergency. 5. Applications – Employees who are required by their work to run smartphone applications. 2 C. Issued Mobile Phone Expectations The following additional conditions shall apply when a city mobile phone is issued: 1. Because the mobile phone is a computer, employees shall adhere to all proper use conditions included in the Personnel Policy Manual. Inappropriate use of a mobile phone may result in disciplinary action up to and including dismissal. 2. Employees shall password lock the mobile phone after a period of inactivity and store data in an encrypted format on the mobile phone. The IT Division shall ensure password locks and encryption are enabled 3. Employees shall not add or modify mobile phone software or applications without the IT Manager’s approval. 4. The City of Elk River has no expectation for employees to check or respond to emails, texts or applications during non-work hours unless explicitly requested by the employee’s supervisor. Employees shall have no expectation of overtime or compensatory time for checking emails during non-work hours. 5. Mobile phones that synchronize to city servers may include a Mobile Device Management Client to ensure the device can be remotely wiped in case of loss or theft. 6. In case of loss or theft, the employee shall immediately contact the IT Division. 7. Employees traveling out of country shall notify the IT Division before leaving to ensure mobile phone and/or wi-fi hot spot cellular plans are switched to international plans. D. Personal Mobile Phone Reimbursement Requirements and Expectations Employees required to maintain a mobile phone for business use may request to use their personal mobile phone for business use and be reimbursed for a portion of their service plan on a fixed monthly basis if approved by their Department Director and provided they agree to the following conditions: 1. Their phone number shall be made available for internal use. 2. The phone shall password lock after a period of inactivity and stored data shall be encrypted. The IT Division shall ensure password locks and encryption are enabled. 3. 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 shall have no expectation of overtime or compensatory time for checking emails during non- work hours. 4. In case loss or theft, the employee shall immediately contact the IT Division. E. Reimbursement for Use of Personal Mobile Phone Employees shall submit for reimbursement to Finance on a quarterly basis. Reimbursements require copies of each monthly bill and a completed and approved Expense Reimbursement Form. This policy provides for two levels of reimbursement for approved personal mobile phone use. 1. $30.00 per month - FLSA exempt supervisors and managers who are always expected to be available and responsive except while on approved leaves of absence. 2. $15.00 per month - FLSA non-exempt employees who are expected to be available and responsive during work hours and for On Call and Standby periods. F. Responsibilities Department Directors or designees shall: 1. Ensure that Justification and Acknowledgement form is complete and presented to City Administrator. 2. Ensure all employees assigned a city-issued mobile phone or who agree to be compensated for business usage of their personal mobile phone are provided access to this policy. 3. Conduct annual reviews of assigned devices to determine continued justification. 4. Immediately upon reassignment of mobile phones, inform the IT Manager or designee. 3 5. Immediately upon a break in service, inform the IT Manager or designee to eliminate cellular service. 6. Collect and return to IT Division all city-issued mobile phones when employee’s service is terminated. 7. Ensure employees are logged out of any third-party applications for city control systems upon employee separation. G. Responsibilities of Employees Employees authorized to use city-issued or personal mobile phones are responsible for the following: 1. Signing the Justification/Acknowledgement form as a confirmation they have received and understand the directives of this policy. 2. Ensuring the mobile phone is turned on and operational during respective work hours. 3. Immediately notifying the IT Division if their phone is lost or stolen. 4. Ensuring the physical security of the city-issued mobile phone. 5. Ensuring communications are kept to the briefest duration possible. 6. Minimizing personal communications. 7. Ensuring personal use does not detract from the completion of assigned duties. 8. Employees may be financially responsible for an issued mobile phone if the device is lost or damaged while in the care of employee, as a result of the employee’s negligence. H. Use of Mobile Phones and Driving The physical use of a mobile phone while operating a motor vehicle (to include idling at a stop light) is prohibited in the State of Minnesota. I. Acknowledgement Employees assigned to use a city-issued mobile phone for business use or reimbursed for the business use of their personal mobile phone shall be provided access to this policy and shall acknowledge receipt and understanding of the provisions outlined herein. 4 Mobile Phone Justification and Policy Acknowledgement Form Employee Name: Title: Department: Request Type:  City-issued mobile phone *  City reimbursed personal mobile phone ** Rate  $15.00 per month  $30.00 per month Mobile Phone Justification (Please select all that apply)  Travel – Employee frequently travels, works in the field, or is out of the office and needs to be in contact with staff, residents, or other city business associates. (Please provide an example that demonstrates a necessity or efficiency that justifies the expense.) _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________  Emergency Response – Employee is in a public safety position and has occasions whereby it is necessary to provide immediate and direct communications with residents, outside agencies cooperating in operations, or other resource entities outside of city government.  Other – Employee is required to be accessible at all times by electronic means. If this is checked please provide a brief explanation: ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Employee Acknowledgement I certify that I have read, understood, and will comply with the Mobile Phone Policy. Signature:____________________ Date:______________________________ Department Director Acknowledgement I certify the requested mobile phone is required and I have read, understood and, will comply with the Mobile Phone Policy. I understand the expense will be charged to my departmental account. Signature: __________________________Date:____________________________ City Administrator Acknowledgement In compliance with the Mobile Phone Policy issuance of this mobile device is approved: Signature: __________________________Date: _____________________________ * Route to IT Division ** Route to Finance Department 5 Mobile Phone Policy History 5/2/11 Staff report states original approval in 2001. There is no record of a policy approved in 2001. Council Amended/Approved May 2, 2011 Item 3.11 Council Amended Nov. 16, 2020 Item 4.8 6 Mobile Phone Policy 1 Mobile Phone Policy 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. Applicability This policy covers 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 are 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 are required by their department to be accessible at all times by electronic means. 2 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: 1. 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 for 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 a city-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). 3 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 fixed, 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 e-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 City 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 minimis 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. 4 2. Insure that all persons assigned a city-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 a city-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. 5 Mobile Phone Justification and Policy Acknowledgement Form Employee Name: Department: Title: Request Type:  City-issued feature phone  City-issued smartphone  Employee-owned City reimbursed feature phone *  Employee-owned City reimbursed smartphone * Feature Phone Justification (Please select all that apply)  Travel – Employee frequently travels, works in the field, or is out of the office and needs to be in contact with staff, citizens, or other city business associates. (Please provide an example that demonstrates a necessity or efficiency that justifies the expense.) _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________  Emergency Response – Employee is in a public safety position, and has occasions whereby it is necessary to provide immediate and direct telephone communications with citizens, outside agencies cooperating in operations, or other resource entities outside of city government.  Other – Employee is required by their department to be accessible at all times by electronic means. If this is checked please provide a brief explanation: ______________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ Smartphone Justification (Please provide a brief explanation and example) ____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Employee Acknowledgement I certify that I have read, understood, and intend to comply with the Mobile Phone Policy. Signature:____________________ Date:______________________________ 6 Department Head Acknowledgement I certify that the requested mobile phone is needed for this employee and I have read understood and intend to comply with the Mobile Phone Policy. I understand the expense will be charged to the departmental account. Signature: __________________________Date:____________________________ City Administrator Acknowledgement In compliance with the Mobile Phone Policy issuance of this mobile device is approved: Signature: ________________________ Date: _____________________________ * A copy of completed form needs to be routed to Finance Department 7 Mobile Phone Policy History Council Amended May 2, 2011 Item 3.11 Staff report says Council adopted originally in 2001 Could only find Information Report mentioning Police consideration of mobile PDA’s. Nothing in these minutes on the subject. 8