It shouldn’t surprise you if your team members use their smartphone for work. Some people check their email before going to bed, while others save documents to their smartphones so they can be accessed on the commute. Because there is no clear line between personal and professional life, you can even tackle office issues from your personal device.
Aftermaths of Unregulated Personal Equipment Use
Your employees can use the gadgets they want, but you cannot ban them. Excessive and unregulated personal use of work-related devices can pose serious risks.
The number one threat to enterprise data privacy is cyber-attacks. Malware injection is possible every time an employee accesses corporate data from their personal device.
If your employee is constantly checking his or her work email from a remote location, or if he or she uses the internet to access it, legal pitfalls could be a concern. The employee could sue if you refuse to pay remote work outside of normal business hours and ignore this tendency. The bad news? The law may be on your side. Employers are required by the Fair Labor Standards Act to pay non-exempt workers an extra amount for work beyond 40 hours per week.
BYOD: Prevention Is Better Than Cure
These dangers are not common in all businesses. A Bring Your Own Device policy (BYOD) is a good preventive measure to avoid the aforementioned dangers. It’s a good idea for your office to have BYOD if you suspect your team is using their smartphone for work.
Before you begin BYOD, it is important to make time to discuss this issue with your team. This is their innovation, so make certain you have enough time to discuss this with your team.
These are three key points to discuss with employees in order for BYOD to become a reality within your company. These issues are important for all businesses and should be discussed with employees when trying to get them to join the BYOD board.
1.Discuss Employees’ Opinion
If you are serious about bringing BYOD to your office, make sure you have a conversation with your staff. Prepare to answer all your staff’s questions. It is a good ideato create a templateof your BYOD policy to be prepared for any questions from your staff.
Before you dive into specific BYOD issues, make sure to get feedback from your employees about the program in general. It is important to explain to your employees why they are required to use it, and to draw their attention to the possible consequences of unregulated personal use at workplace.
It is important to address any concerns your staff may have at this point.
2. Discuss the privacy of employees
BYOD users are the most concerned about privacy. These concerns are not unfounded. BYOD allows managers to see what corporate data is being used by employees’ devices. Employers will have undoubtedly access to certain personal information that could be troubling for employees.
A legal system to protect the privacy of employees
Today’s reality is quite different. It is illegal to view or browse the private information of employees. This is something your team needs to be aware of.
First, employers in the US are severely punished if they try to see into the private lives and affairs of their employees.