Can an employer mandate that my personal cell phone also be used as a business cell phone without paying part of that bill?

Question

Can an employer mandate that my personal cell phone also be used as a business cell phone without paying part of that bill?

Anonymous Mar 10, 2011 1 views 1 answers

As an hourly employee, I do not get overtime at all nor further compensation if I take calls on my personal cell phone after clocking out. Our personal cell phone numbers are listed on a contacts list, however none of the phones listed are issued nor paid by the business. Calls to my cell phone happen infrequently but recently I was told to that i "must" put a particular person's cell phone number into my personal cell so that I know to answer "at any time" that person calls. When this person did call, I was not available and when I finally became available, it seemed inappropriate to call back for several reasons: one, it was late, two, the situation had already been handled, and three, I am charged by my wireless carrier for calls from/to other carriers. Please help?

David Cook · Accepted Answer · 2026-06-15T10:34:14+00:00

Unfortunately, the answer is most likely YES they can. I can't speak to Arizona law, as I don't practice there, but there is no federal or state (with the sole exception of California, I believe) law that I'm aware of which requires an employer to provide a cell phone to an employee or to reimburse an employee for the cost of a calling plan, even if the employer requires that the employee have access to a cell phone to make work-related calls. California, however, does have a law requiring employers to reimburse employees for business-related expenses. You should note that if you do use a personal phone for business use, you may be able to record a trade or business expense for your personal tax reporting purposes.

Can an employer mandate that my personal cell phone also be used as a business cell phone without paying part of that bill?

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