From the disgruntled employee to hours of payroll, your HR department has a lot to handle. Unfortunately, a little more may need to be added onto their plates. It's time to introduce HR to IT. With it being the year 2012, close to all of your employees have smart phones and tablets...and they know how to use them well. The problem? Your business is electronically accessible 24/7. As with any form of technology in the workplace, there are both pros and cons to this extreme level of accessibility.

For one, it enables an employee to access their work from anywhere around the world at any time and may increase productivity.  However, it also opens up doors to many HR problems. An “around-the-clock” employee may start to make wage and hour claims for all of his or her “extra work”. To make life a little easier for your HR team, IT Manager Daily, has come up with a sample “Bring Your Own Device” policy that we present below to limit HR BYOD nightmares:

Company XYZ: BYOD Policy

Company XYZ grants its employees the privilege of purchasing and using smartphones and tablets of their choosing at work for their convenience. Company XYZ reserves the right to revoke this privilege if users do not abide by the policies and procedures outlined below.

This policy is intended to protect the security and integrity of Company XYZ’s data and technology infrastructure. Limited exceptions to the policy may occur due to variations in devices and platforms.

All employees must agree to the terms and conditions set forth in this policy in order to be able to connect their devices to the company network.

Acceptable Use

The company defines acceptable personal use on company time as reasonable and limited personal communication or recreation, such as reading or game playing.

The company defines acceptable business use as activities that directly or indirectly support the business of Company XYZ.

Devices may not be used at any time to:

• Store or transmit illicit materials
• Store or transmit proprietary information belonging to another company
• Harass others
• Engage in outside business activities
• Etc.
• The following apps are allowed: (weather, productivity apps, Facebook, etc.)
• The following apps are not allowed: (apps not downloaded through iTunes or Google Play, etc.)
• Employees may use their mobile device to access the following company-owned resources: email, calendars, contacts, documents, etc.

Devices and Support

• Smartphones including iPhone, Android, Blackberry, and Windows phones are allowed (the list should be as detailed as necessary including models, operating systems, versions, etc. ).
• Tablets including iPad and Android are allowed (the list should be as detailed as necessary including models, operating systems, versions, etc.).
• Connectivity issues are supported by IT; employees should/should not contact the device manufacturer or their carrier for operating system or hardware-related issues.
• Devices must be presented to IT for proper installation and configuration of standard apps, such as browsers, office productivity apps and security tools, before they can access the network.

Reimbursement

• The company will a) pay the employee an allowance, b) cover the cost of the entire phone/data plan, c) pay half of the phone/data plan, etc.
• The company will/will not reimburse the employee for the following charges: roaming, plan overages, etc.

Security

• In order to prevent unauthorized access, devices must be password protected using the features of the device and a strong password is required to access the company network.
• The company strong password policy is: passwords must be at least six characters and a combination of upper- and lower-case letters, numbers and symbols. Passwords will be rotated every 90 days and the new password can’t be one of 15 previous passwords.
• The device must lock itself with a password or PIN if it’s idle for five minutes.
• After five failed login attempts, the device will lock. Contact IT to regain access.
• Rooted (Android) or jailbroken (iOS) devices are strictly forbidden from accessing the network.
• Employees are automatically prevented from downloading, installing and using any app that does not appear on the company’s list of approved apps.
• Smartphones and tablets that are not on the company’s list of supported devices are/are not allowed to connect to the network.
• Smartphones and tablets belonging to employees that are for personal use only are/are not allowed to connect to the network.
• Employees’ access to company data is limited based on user profiles defined by IT and automatically enforced.
• The employee’s device may be remotely wiped if 1) the device is lost, 2) the employee terminates his or her employment, 3) IT detects a data or policy breach, a virus or similar threat to the security of the company’s data and technology infrastructure.

Risks/Liabilities/Disclaimers

• While IT will take every precaution to prevent the employee’s personal data from being lost in the event it must remote wipe a device, it is the employee’s responsibility to take additional precautions, such as backing up email, contacts, etc.
• The company reserves the right to disconnect devices or disable services without notifying the user first.
• A lost or stolen device must be reported to the company within 24 hours.
• The employee is expected to use his or her devices in an ethical manner at all times and adhere to the companies acceptable use policy as outlined above.
• The employee is personally liable for all costs associated with his or her device.

The employee assumes full liability for risks including, but not limited to, the partial or complete loss of company and personal data due to an operating system crash, errors, bugs, viruses, malware, and/or other software or hardware failures, or programming errors that render the device unusable.