What is bring your own device (BYOD)? 

Bring your own device is an approach to reimbursing employees for using their personal assets for business purposes. What makes a BYOD program stand out is the customizability and specificity. Companies can choose the assets to reimburse and the reimbursements are specific to employee locations and job roles. 

What does a BYOD program reimburse? 

A BYOD program enables employees to use personal assets such as phones, tablets, broadband and home office and receive accurate reimbursements. Companies rolling out a BYOD program can pick and choose the assets they wish to reimburse for, as well as how much to reimburse. For example, workers that work from home two days a week may receive a different internet reimbursement compared to an employee who works from home five days a week. Motus BYOD allows you adjust the program to fit your employees. 

How do I know my company needs a BYOD program? 

It really depends. Every company is different. A number of factors, from industry and size to location and number of employees within each department, impact company needs. Different employers require different things of their employees. Here are a number of signs that signal it might be time for your company to adopt a BYOD program. 

Don’t have a reimbursement policy?

Not having any reimbursement policy in place can create serious headaches across the company. Take, for example, an employee using their personal phone for work submits three months’ worth of phone reimbursements at once. From a budgeting perspective, this can pose a serious challenge. And who can say how long the employee will wait to submit their next expense. From an administrative perspective, this is a large and unexpected burden. A BYOD program streamlines this process and limits unexpected expense submissions. 

Spending too much time with expense reports? 

Speaking of expense reports, they aren’t cheap. They cost the company time and money. If it’s a recurring, reimbursable expense, your company shouldn’t have to run it through the expense system. This can lead to business expense fraud. Employees could, for example, submit their family cell phone plan bill and unless you’re going through that bill with a fine-tooth comb, you may overlook it because you have many reports to review and approve. Sure, your company may rely on their personal device, but not the personal devices of everyone in that employee’s family. With a BYOD program, you can reimburse them for a more accurate, equitable amount. 

Not sure how accurate the reimbursement you’re providing are? 

Reimbursements for the business use of personal assets are often seen as an employee benefit. But it’s important that those reimbursements are accurate. If they fall short, it could give rise to resentment from employees and potentially a lawsuit. When was the last time you reviewed the amount you were giving employees? Do you know why you chose that amount? Do you offer different reimbursements based on location? How about job roles? With a BYOD program, the Motus platform calculates accurate rates specific to employee location and job role. 

Don’t want to deal with a corporate device program?  

We get it. Whether your corporate device program is outsourced to a managed mobility services vendor or managed internally, it can be a lot of work. The onboarding and off-boarding process can pose serious challenges. That’s especially true if the program is being managed without a platform, or on an older, pieced together platform. Depending on your program, repair and replacement might also be a significant hassle. A BYOD program? Considerably less so. A BYOD program is extremely simple to set up and manage. 

Is your workforce growing? 

If you only have a couple of employees, you may not need to think about a BYOD program. And that’s okay. But if you’ve experienced some serious growth, or you already have several departments full, it might be time to take a look. Especially if some of those departments are using their personal phones for business reasons. 

Is your workforce spread out?

If your company has a single location in one city, and all employees drive in to work, you might not need all that a BYOD program has to offer. But if your company has multiple locations in different cities, or employees working remotely, you should take a look at a BYOD program. Why? The answer is simple. Things cost different amounts from location to location. The rate each employee receives should be specific to their location. And a BYOD program takes that into consideration.  

Do you have concerns around labor law and IRS compliance? 

How your company tackles reimbursement and the level of urgency around it might depend on where you operate. Labor law varies by state. IRS compliance on the other hand is national. Ensuring you’re reimbursing, and that those reimbursements meet state and federal requirements is important. Fortunately, a BYOD program can do all of that for you. 

Challenges to Overcome

Whether your company has said yes to only one, a couple or all of the signs above, you may still be facing some hurdles. One of the biggest challenges companies fear when looking to adopt a BYOD program is change management. Fortunately, setting up a BYOD program is super simple for admins and employees. Employees just need to set up their BYOD account and input their direct deposit information. The program is just as easy for administrators. After a couple hours with our team they’re good to go.

One other issue is a potential decrease in reimbursement amounts. Moving to BYOD program may cause some employees to receive less than what they currently get. That’s especially true if employees were expensing entire internet plans, or your company was reimbursing them for their family phone plans. It’s important you know that a BYOD program is customizable. We will build a program first based on employee zip codes, but adjustments can be made. Depending on what you want to offer, we can increase the amount or decrease it.  

Next Steps 

Reimbursing employees for the business use of personal assets like their phones, home office or internet shouldn’t be difficult. With the hurdles of labor laws and accurate rates for each employee, an internal program could be challenging when it should be easy. Fortunately, with Motus it is easy. If you’re ready to connect with us and start setting up your BYOD program, reach out to us today!

The post Is It Time For Your Company to Implement a BYOD Program? appeared first on Motus.

Benefits of Partnering with a BYO Provider

According to a survey by Bitglass, 82% of all organizations promote the use of personal assets for business. With a large percentage of organizations asking employees to use their own assets, there’s an obvious need for rethinking old processes. It’s time to streamline and adopt more efficient tools. A few of the many benefits to partnering with a BYO provider are optimizing spend, gaining organizational efficiency, attracting talent and mitigating risk.

Some employers pay back their mobile workers for the use of their personal assets with fixed stipends. This method can result in headaches – ineffective policies, under or over-payments and challenging record keeping. BYO programs simplify the complexities presented in other reimbursement methods. By onboarding with a BYO provider like Motus, companies can feel reassured that they are optimizing their spend and not overpaying employees due to lack of visibility. Administrators have a broad range of oversight into how a reimbursement is calculated, making accurate and reliable payments the standard.

Once the foundations are set in the BYO program, administrators gain more engagement and clarity into why each employee is receiving a given compensation. This increase in oversight also eliminates the need for tracking down expense reports or device usage specifics, which means cutting down on tedious paperwork.

Attracting and retaining top talent in a competitive industry is becoming increasingly difficult. When hiring remote employees, it’s important to offer a candidate the option to use the technology that they’re already comfortable with instead of restricting them to company-provided devices or settings. Administrators don’t need to send out a bunch of technology that they need to keep track of. Rather, employees can opt for their personal devices with the knowledge and security that they will be given a fair reimbursement. The flexibility to prioritize the preferences of employees is a big draw for potential candidates.

Ultimately, equitable reimbursements backed by data are one way for companies to avoid situations where employees feel unfairly compensated. The best BYO programs will rely on data that is continually updated and reflective of changes in an employee’s local costs. Consistent data tailored to each employee’s area of residence can protect the company from violations of labor laws.

What to Look for when Choosing a BYO Provider

During the research phase of your journey to find the best bring your own device or asset reimbursement program for your company, there are a few questions you should be asking providers.

1. What does your company’s current mobility program look like?

First, look internally at what your company currently offers. Do you provide new employees with a full technology set-up, or do they use their own personal devices? For any personal asset use, does your company offer reimbursement of some kind, or none at all?

When choosing the right provider, they must speak to the needs of your company, such as easy management of devices or flexible reimbursements as employee numbers grow.

2. What kind of security can they offer?

Undeniably, it is a security risk for employees to access sensitive company data with their personal devices. This entry point can be the target of attack for cyber criminals. The solution is to implement security measures that can be adopted by any device.

A single secure platform where employees can download all necessary software is a safeguard from encountering malware. It’s crucial that the management of the secure platform extends to all documents connected with content and domain filtering and anti-malware functionality, including mobile threat defense solutions and professional services capabilities. But don’t stop there.

Secure platforms are most effective when the applications added to mobile devices are properly vetted, reducing potential for exposures. Scrolling through an app’s website and review section isn’t enough – set up time with the company, ask for references and have questions ready that are specific to your company’s security system.

Multi-factor authentication is becoming a mainstream method of securing access to company sites and information. That’s for good reason! Authenticators offer all devices an additional level of security and protection in case they fall into the wrong hands.

3. How do you calculate reimbursements?

Once you’ve determined how your company currently calculates reimbursements, if at all, your research will lead you to discover what makes for exceptional reimbursement. First, a good reimbursement considers all the costs associated with the BYO asset. With phones and tablets, there are hardware and carrier fees. With broadband, there is a cadence of bills and taxes. And a home office? These costs could include insurance, utilities and mortgage or rent.

These costs make reimbursing in-house challenging, especially as workforces are scattered across geographic areas. Inconsistent costs across employees are a serious concern. BYO programs that involve up-to-date data points from across the country can provide reimbursements tailored to each employee’s location of operation, calculating fair and accurate rates based on facts, not estimates.

4. Can you meet the needs of a growing workforce?

Company size is also a determinant in which BYO program is right for you. If you only have a few employees, self-record keeping should be manageable. But if your company is in a growth period or already has full departments, it’s definitely time to explore BYO providers. As your workforce grows, if your company expands to multiple locations in different cities or employees are working remotely, you should implement a system that ensures fair reimbursements for all. With some cities having a higher cost of living, employees will receive a rate specific to their location. A BYO program takes care of this discrepancy with ease.

5. Does your program meet labor law and IRS compliance standards?

Where your company operates may impact how your company handles reimbursement. While labor laws vary by state, IRS compliance is a national requirement. To be sure you’re reimbursing employees’ mileage according to the state and national laws, you can rely on a BYO program.

6. What is the BYO program’s reputation?

Once you understand your company’s needs and are narrowing down options, it’s important to compare the reputation of BYO programs and read through client reviews. G2 is a reliable website that hosts peer-reviews on many software programs and applications.

What’s Next?

As you move through your search for the BYO program that’s right for you, make it a priority to understand how the program would fit into your existing infrastructure and tailor to needs.

Motus’ BYO reimbursement program checks all the boxes:

• Easy enrollment and admin management
• Confident, up-to-date data for accurate reimbursements in any location
• Reimbursement capabilities for a range of devices – smartphones, tablets, broadband, home office
• No need for expense reports or receipts
• IRS compliance monitoring

And so much more! Learn more about the Motus Bring Your Own solution today.

Learn More About BYO

The post Choosing the Right BYO Provider: What to Know When Outsourcing Asset Reimbursement appeared first on Motus.

Benefits of Telecommuting for Companies 

Maybe you’ll laugh, just reading “benefits of telecommuting for companies.” But remote work can truly benefit your business. For some industries or job roles, remote work is an impossibility. In others, it offers an opportunity to maximize on spending, increase productivity, attract and retain talent and mitigate risk. Let’s explore how, starting with spend.  

Making the Most of Spend 

Making the most of spend means rethinking the traditional ways a company does something. And that’s a big challenge. There are just places in the budget that get trimmed. It’s how it always works. But there’s a better way. 

Dedicated office space can cost thousands of dollars per employee each year. This number depends a lot on the city and headcount. A company operating in New York City with 500 employees spending $16,000 per seat annually is going to benefit more than a mom and pop shop in Wichita, Kansas. But businesses of any size looking to control costs can embrace telecommuting and reduce office space costs considerably.  

There are several approaches, including going complete remote, or shifting to a hybrid approach with desks open to employees that come in two or three days each week. In either situation, employees will be making use of their home offices and internet. Employers should be reimbursing employees based on the business use of these personal assets. At the end of the day, it’s costing less than office space and the reimbursements can be calculated to consider both their job role and location costs.  

Productivity in the Workforce 

What do you do when you’re at home? For years, it was a place to relax, spend time with family, maybe enjoy a hobby or two. Maybe if things get really crazy, the home was a place to get some work done. But for the most part, it was a place safe from work. So when employees began working from home, there was, and still is, an apprehension. Who’s going to be working harder when they’re at home? According to a Microsoft study, 85% of leaders believed adopting a hybrid approach “has made it challenging to have confidence that employees are being productive.” Yikes. 

But there’s plenty of research into this and the data is clear: employees are often more productive when working from home. How can that be? Well, when employees are working from home, without worrying about a commute, they can start work earlier and end later. Without someone watching over their shoulder, they’re also less likely to engage in fake work. They’re not pretending to do things at their desk when their tasks are accomplished and they’re just waiting for the clock to wind down. There is one more reason for increased productivity from home, but it belongs in the next section.  

Keeping and Gaining Talent 

Employees working for a company that they perceive as caring about them are more engaged. Awesome, right? So how does a company show its employees that they care about them? They take their wants into consideration. And a lot of employees want to continue telecommuting. Working from home is a benefit to them in a number of ways.  

It could also result in the opportunity for de-location. Companies offering de-location packages to new hires are giving them a stipend to live in any place of their choosing. Take Zapier as an example. They provided new employees $10,000 to move from their home base in San Francisco. The reason was simple: cost of living in San Francisco is impossible. De-location is an opportunity for the new employees to start fresh somewhere else and for the company to attract top talent. It’s also an opportunity specific to the flexibility of remote work.

That benefit improves when you reimburse them for the business use of their home office and internet. And these benefits aren’t just keeping current employees engaged. It’s also a big bonus for prospective candidates. What employees want inside your company often match the wants of the candidates you’re looking to hire. Telecommuting and receiving an equitable reimbursement for the business use of their personal assets is a jackpot for both current and future employees. What’s more, it widens the talent pool your company can hire from. 

Benefits of Telecommuting for Employees 

We’ve talked about the benefits employers see through telecommuting. And we’ve scratched the surface of how telecommuting benefits employees. But there’s a lot more there to explore. Employee benefits of telecommuting also include efficiency, flexibility and cost savings.  

Cost Savings 

Employers aren’t the only ones concerned with cost savings. Fortunately, on days when employees work from home, they don’t have to travel to work. That means they aren’t spending money on gas or public transportation. Also, working from home they may be more inclined to eat the food they already have available to them. Unless their meals are paid for, employees are either already bringing food from home, or going out for lunch. This might not sound like a lot of cost savings, but over the course of weeks and months, those costs add up. 

Efficiency 

As we shared earlier, employees working from home are more productive. Business leaders concerned about at-home productivity worry employees will be distracted. But the office isn’t free of distraction. There’s water cooler talk, meetings that might not be strictly speaking necessary, even the ambient noise of other people working can be a distraction.  

Sometimes, employees required to commute to the office will find they’re the only one there. Or they’ll find themselves in meetings all day with people in other locations. These and other situations lead employees to wonder why the company’s in-office requirements exist. 

For many employees, working from home is simply more comfortable. Without the distractions of the workplace, they can focus on their day to day. And, as we shared earlier, they’re more productive for it. 

Flexibility 

Finally, and maybe most importantly, working from home means flexibility. Time and time again, the data shows employees value flexibility as a benefit. Working remotely means they have more of a choice over their schedule. And companies are embracing this as a benefit to offer. Why care that they’re doing laundry mid-day if they’re getting their work done? So what if they’re signing off early to grab their kid from school? How important is 9 to 5 when work life can be configured to meet the needs of both employer and employee? Not only do employees value flexibility as a benefit, it comes at no additional cost to employers. 

Returning to the Office or Remote Work: Which is the Future?

Lots of companies are looking to bring employees back to a physical office. Reasons range from company culture and productivity concerns to sunk costs and layoff avoidance. Let’s take a quick look at the perceived problems of remote work.  

The Problems with Remote Work 

Employers may take issue with remote work in any number of ways. Topping the list may be a claim of diminished productivity. However, in a study of 1,356 working groups, researchers found that remote workers can be as effective as those working in the office. It’s not about where employees are working, but how they are working. Employees supported in their collaborative efforts stand a better chance of success than those who are given nothing. Additionally, remote environments are better for gathering employees with a mix of skills than an in-office location.

The Future is Remote Work 

The days of the traditional office are behind us. Employees aren’t looking for corner offices and break room treats. They value flexibility in their schedule, and the ability to do work as they’re needed, wherever they’re located. Employees also value employers that support them as they work mobile. Companies should provide remote workers with reimbursements for the business use of their personal utilities.

Next Steps 

Whether you’re looking for new cost control opportunities or exploring recruiting and retention tactics, understanding your options is important. This post covered some benefits of telecommuting for both employers and employees. We also talked about the importance of reimbursing for the business use of personal assets. It’s one element of our Bring Your Own solution. Learn more about how you can leverage a BYO program to simplify administration and control costs. 

Learn More About BYO

The post The Benefits of Telecommuting for Employers and Employees appeared first on Motus.

What is a Bring Your Own Program? 

A Bring Your Own (BYO) program is a solution in which employers reimburse their employees for the business use of their personal assets. Employees have been using personal assets for work for decades. Many weren’t paid for this use. Recently, companies came to understand how essential business use of personal assets was to their organization’s success. So which assets are included in a bring your own program? Let’s have a look. 

The Elements of a BYO Program 

A Bring Your Own program includes three main assets: devices, home office and broadband. Each of these pieces plays an essential role for employees working entirely in office, entirely remotely or has a hybrid schedule. Different employees may use some more than others. We’ll dig into each of these further below, beginning with device. 

Device 

An employee’s personal phone or tablet can be an essential work tool. Do your employees access work email on their phone? Do your employees make calls to the office while at a project site? Are any of your employees communicating with vendors from their personal phone? If they’re using personal assets for work, the company should reimburse them. Companies that don’t provide reimbursements may expose themselves to legal risk.  

Home Office 

Paying employees for their home offices might seem like a stretch, but there are some points to consider. First, office space isn’t cheap. Companies spend $100’s of dollars per employee per square foot on leased area. Businesses that cut down on their office space can control costs considerably. Second, employees working from home spend more on heating and utilities than employees who go into work. Helping them with those costs won’t come close to the expense of corporate real estate. 

Broadband 

If an employee is working from their home, there are some essentials to perform their job. An internet connection is one of them. While an employee will be paying for their internet regardless of whether they work from home or not, this does not exempt employers from reimbursement obligations. Additionally, employees working from home may see increased productivity with higher speeds, something they might more easily afford with monthly reimbursements. 

Why BYO? 

There are four main benefits employers see with a BYO program. Those benefits include optimized spend, gained efficiencies, attracting and retaining talent and mitigating risk. Let’s learn a bit more about each of those, beginning with optimized spend.  

Optimizing Spend

It can be a challenge to find new ways to control corporate costs. Reimbursing employees for the business use of personal assets—phones, tablets, home office, broadband and more—could be an area of opportunity. Using a BYO policy that matches the needs of your company, employers can tailor reimbursements to the roles and locations of their mobile workforce. The result? Instead of overpaying employees with fixed stipends, companies can provide equitable reimbursements that accurately reflect business use. With a standardized, accurate reimbursement, employers gain insight into the right payment amounts and better understand which roles require higher payments and which don’t require the same amount of device support. Additionally, the right BYO policies can also appeal to talent both inside and outside the company. Finally, employers have more oversight over payments.  

Gain Efficiencies

Boosting productivity. Who doesn’t want more efficiencies in the workplace? Well, with a BYO program from Motus, administrators know how much their employees are being reimbursed for and why. The result? No more stipends that lack accuracy, or waiting around for expense reports to be submitted. With the right BYO program in place, employees receive timely, accurate rates. That’s a load of work off the shoulders of admins. Gone are the days of combing through phone usage or knocking on doors to ask who gets what. The Motus platform provides dashboards that show exactly who qualifies and what reimbursements they receive.  

Reduce Travel and Expense Reports

If you’re thinking reducing travel and expense reports fits under “Gain Efficiencies,” you’d be right. But we want to really get this point across, so it’s getting its own section. How does your company currently process travel and expense reports? Consider the workflow, the time spent on each submission. When employees receive a reimbursement through a BYO program, that eliminates the need for device, internet and other potential home-related expense reports. Multiply those across your workforce and you’ve saved the company quite a bit in time and money.

Attract and Retain Talent 

What benefits draw candidates to a company? What benefits make them want to stick around? Businesses are working hard to find benefits that aren’t just title changes or compensation increases. The right BYO program can provide even companies in competitive industries with an edge. An employee might use some or all of their personal assets for business. Businesses that reimburse them equitably get the advantage. 

Most importantly, a BYO program means flexibility. Without the limitations of a corporate-provided device or strictly in-office work, employees can make use of their personal assets as they choose. And employers can increase the pool of potential candidates available to hire with a more open remote-work policy. Finally, a BYO program means directly deposited reimbursements. Removing expense reports for personal use benefit employers and employees.  

Mitigate Risk

Employees receiving reimbursements for the personal assets they use for work are more invested and engaged. And that makes sense. If you weren’t reimbursed for using your personal assets for work, day in and day out, would you be happy about it? Probably not.  

Not reimbursing employees runs risks beyond disgruntled employees. Providing inaccurate payments, or payments that don’t cover the cost of business use can result in labor-law related lawsuits. This is another reason reimbursements should accurately reflect the localized rates specific to each employees. It’s also a glaring example of where stipends fail.  

The Motus platform provides centralized reimbursement records, making tracking down payment information and struggling to pull reports a thing of the past. Our comprehensive, data-backed BYO solution updates rate components regularly to reflect local costs. Knowing each reimbursement is accurate gives both employers and employees peace of mind.  

What are my next steps? 

Ready to overcome your reimbursement challenges and implement a bring your own program? Motus is here to help. You can reach out to us and we’ll help you build the best program for your company’s goals. But if you’re still in the learning phase, we get that too. We have plenty of resources to explore, or you can take a tour of our BYO program today. 

Take the Tour

The post What is a BYO Program? Properly Reimburse for Phone, Home Office and Internet Expenses appeared first on Motus.

Benefitting from Employees Using Personal Device 

Mark Scout is a salesman for a biotech company. When he isn’t taking meetings, researching prospects or reaching out to potential customers via email, he’s making calls. Even on a day where his schedule is booked, he’s still making a minimum of 10 calls.

Some of those calls are to team members or his supervisor, however most of them are outreach to either a prospect he’s walking through a deal or a potential customer he’s trying to open the door with. He also has email and the company’s messaging app on his phone so wherever he is, whatever time of day, he can respond to urgent messages on a moment’s notice.

No one can deny that Mark’s phone is essential to his work. But there are a number of ways a company can choose to support employees who use phones as much as Mark. Those options are no reimbursement, a cell phone reimbursement and a company-provided device. How does each of these impact Mark? Let’s start with no reimbursement.

Not Receiving a Cell Phone Reimbursement  

The biotech business Mark works for does not offer him a cell phone reimbursement. The company’s policy on this is: if one department receives a reimbursement, then everyone will ask for one. Not wanting to appear to be playing favorites, the company believes it’s more equitable if no one receives a stipend. That decision is frustrating as Mark knows he works hard for the company, and most of his cell phone bill is for that work he does. It’s disillusioning that the company refuses to find a way to ensure he, and other employees in the company, are compensated appropriately for the business use of his phone.

Mark continues to work as hard as he did before he reached this conclusion, though now his attention is divided. Instead of focused solely on selling the company’s product, he’s also spending time talking with recruiters, looking for other employers who prioritize employee satisfaction. It isn’t long before Mark exits the company.

Receiving a Company-Provided Device 

The biotech business Mark works for has decided to provide mobile phones to employees whose job role requires them. This means Mark now has two phones to manage. Depending on his operating system of preference, Mark may have some learning to do. But this does allow him to separate his personal and business lives easily.

How a company chooses to implement a company-provided device program has a serious impact on the amount of administration it requires.

Receiving a Cell Phone Reimbursement 

The biotech business decided to provide employees with a cell phone reimbursement and Mark is delighted. Mark isn’t out searching for other jobs and believes the company made the right call. He’s in the mindset to stay focused on the job. What’s more, everything he needs is on his personal phone, the phone he’s familiar with and uses daily.

The company was hesitant to roll out the stipend, as sensitive business information on personal devices is cause for increased security concerns. But they found a “bring your own” reimbursement solution for their mobile workforce that provided satisfactory protection, even to employee devices. And, seeing the employee satisfaction with their cell phone reimbursement policy, the company decides to promote this in their recruiting efforts to provide a benefit that appeals to the emerging generation of workers. In fact, they’re considering reimbursing employees for the personal use of other assets, like home office, internet and more.

Reflecting on the Benefit of a Cell Phone Reimbursement 

We walked through some of the benefits a cell phone reimbursement brings to both companies and employees. We also shared a few of the downsides of not reimbursing employees and the option of a company-provided device program. Every company is different, with needs specific to its size, industry and customer base. But, with cell phone reimbursements gaining popularity, it may be the best option for your company.

It’s important to acknowledge that there are a number of ways a company can roll out a cell phone reimbursement. Let’s take a look at what those are and the impact they have on both employers and employees.

Cover the Phone Bill 

Some businesses, understanding how vital employee devices are to their job performance, simply choose to cover the employee’s cellphone bill. Every month, employees submit their bills and employers pay them. This is an easy incentive, and you’d have a hard time finding an employee against this reimbursement. However, it is far more expensive than necessary, especially if employees only use their personal phone for business every once and a while.

Flat Stipend 

Other businesses take the average cost of a typical phone bill, split that in half and send it to employees to pay for the business use of their personal phone. This option is the worst of both worlds. While it might not be as expensive as paying for an employee’s entire monthly bill, using an average across a broad base of employees means some will still be over-reimbursed. It also means there are some employees that will be under-reimbursed. It’s a better option than no reimbursement, but it lacks specificity.

Specific Reimbursement 

Businesses that partner with Motus provide their employees with reimbursements that are specific to their job roles. This ensures that employees with more mobile-intensive roles and employees with less phone-focused duties will be reimbursed appropriately. What’s more, these reimbursements reflect changes in local cost differences.

Now, how can companies manage these policies?

Managing Mobility: BYO Policy Essentials

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programs have sparked renewed interest as scalability and employee flexibility are increasingly driving strategic business decisions. BYOD is on the rise, now accounting for 56% of devices in the workplace. However, with the resurgence of personal devices in the workplace, security and cost control risks are also rising concerns. Effective BYOD programs rely on well-configured and managed mobile device policies to mitigate these risks.

What is Mobile Device / BYOD Policy?

Mobile device / BYOD polices define and establish guidelines for employee eligibility, proper device usage, restrictions and enforcement. Mobile device / BYOD policies also help ensure that employees who are using personal devices for business reasons are fairly, accurately and compliantly reimbursed for the business use of those devices. With changing labor laws and today’s continued shift to remote and hybrid work environments, this is critical.

Mobile device / BYOD policy is also necessary when planning and managing both MMS and hybrid programs. This enables companies to establish multiple policies to reinforce job-dependent eligibility and restrictions across each program. Additionally, companies can outsource their mobile device / BYOD policy to a managed mobility services provider.

Policy Configuration

Successful BYOD management starts with properly established mobile device policy. Internal BYOD programs often fail due to inconsistency or a lack of well-defined mobile policy. Policies prevent employees from using unmanaged devices to access corporate networks, applications and data, mitigating risk and protecting sensitive corporate assets. This is especially true when policies are configured to work with your mobile device management (MDM) systems.

Elements included in proper policy configuration include, employee qualification, exception rules, acceptable use, program management, and fair & accurate reimbursement. Beyond initial creation, consistent policy revision and updates are important for companies to consider when scaling to growing device programs.

Policy Management & Adherence

Of course, polices aren’t effective without enforcement. Along with the day-to-day management, strong policies use a mixture of positive and negative reinforcement to drive home the importance of policy adherence. Every organization needs to decide what reinforcement points are right for them and ensure these points are properly communicated to employees.

Policy compliance can be driven by in-platform policy acceptance for all users and administrator accessible acceptance reporting. Lack of clarity on desired behavior and enforcement can result in added cost in addition to added administrative burden and security concerns.

Hidden Legal Risks in Your Company Cell Phone Reimbursement Policy

Along with security concerns, there are also legal implications to be aware of. The growing adoption of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) culture and lawsuits tied to under-reimbursing employees is high among them. Here are five recent lawsuits in which employees sued companies over cell phone reimbursement policies (or lack thereof).

Delivery: Schwan’s Home Services

Sometimes, you need to use your personal phone for your job. On August 12 of 2014, California ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in Cochran V. Schwan’s Home Service Inc, requiring employers reimburse employees for business use of their personal devices. This landmark case set the tone for several lawsuits to follow.

Facility Management: ABM

Similar to the case against Schwan’s Home Services, this lawsuit is specific to using personal devices and not being compensated for that time. On February 15 of 2019, ABM paid out $4.5 million to settle claims from staff who sued for compensation after allegedly being made to use their personal devices for work-related duties. Litigation began in 2014, so consider legal fees of five years when adding up the costs of this settlement.

Retail: Tilly’s

This case, while not directly related to reimbursing employees for the business use of their personal assets, widens the interpretation of business use of personal devices. On February 4^th of 2019, California’s second Appellate District Division 3 Appeals court reversed a decision in favor of the plaintiff. This case dealt more specifically with on-call employees having to phone in to find out if they needed to work a potential shift. But the decision impacts employers and will lead to a change in company cell phone reimbursement policies.

Coffee: Starbucks

Companies have often relied on de minimis doctrine when arguing lawsuits. This essentially means “it’s so little, it doesn’t really matter.” Troester V. Starbucks Corp. set a new precedent with its decision in favor of an employee who performed tasks for the company after clocking out. Arguments like “my employees might use their phones for work, but not in a way that really matters/not long enough to be a measurable amount of time” hold less water when looking at this decision.

Investment Banking: Morgan Stanley

Plaintiffs brought a lawsuit against Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC for, among other things, labor law violation on May 14, 2018. Morgan Stanley came to the table with a $10.2 million settlement in June, which was agreed to, though the financial adviser plaintiffs in a similar case (Chen V. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC) argued this is not enough to cover the associated claims.

The Importance of an Effective BYOD Policy

As represented in the examples above, it doesn’t matter what industry your company exists in. Does your company have a cell phone reimbursement policy? Does it adequately compensate all your employees for the business use of their personal assets? If not, you could be violating labor laws. While many know California for its labor laws, those laws are expanding. States like Illinois have adopted similar laws and others have similar regulations in progress.

Your company can implement a BYOD policy that avoids unnecessary complexity, cost or time. But you certainly don’t want to leave your company exposed to the risks of being out of compliance with labor laws.

In-House Mobile Device / BYOD Policy Management

Companies can choose to handle mobile device / BYOD policies in-house. However, without the proper level of expertise, a BYOD policy can easily slide off the rails. What’s more, when handled in-house, management and enforcement of mobile policies can put unneeded strain on internal teams.

Outsourced Mobile Device / BYOD Policy Management

Effective BYOD programs should drive employee satisfaction and relieve administrative burden. With Motus BYOD, policy creation and management becomes virtually effortless for both program owners and internal IT teams. Whether scaling an existing policy and program, or creating one from the ground up, Motus can help mitigate risk and control costs across your BYOD program by consulting on policy best practices.

Cell Phone Reimbursement with Motus 

Cell phone reimbursements are an important and increasingly relevant factor in the workplace. From recruiting and retention to cost savings and boosted productivity, reimbursing employees for the business use of personal assets offers many benefits. And, as outlined above, Motus provides accurate reimbursements that reflect roles and functions, and are backed by relevant geographic data points. Looking to empower your employees with an equitable cell phone reimbursement? Learn more about the Motus BYO solution today.

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The post Cell Phone Reimbursement: Writing BYOD Policy to Accurately Reimburse Employees appeared first on Motus.

It still matters if your team is prepped and capable of maintaining their workload. But another concern is whether employees have the right tools, whether they’re properly equipped for their role. That concern isn’t likely to come up in a restaurant kitchen. 

Solving Problems with a Bring Your Own Program

At a high level, some mobile workers are receiving fixed stipends for the business use of personal items. Unfortunately, those stipends don’t hold up as much as an accurate reimbursement does. Employees also shoulder a large amount of administrative burden with ineffective policies. Finally, keeping records can prove challenging. With all of these concerns, your mobile workforce may look like a kitchen with some unintentional fires. Well, we’re here to share four reasons companies should be investing in BYO programs today to not only put out those fires but ensure they don’t flicker back to life.  

Optimizing Spend with a Bring Your Own Program 

According to Bitglass, 82% of all organizations promote BYO policies. That’s a high number. Yet it doesn’t reflect how impactful the right BYO program can be. Depending on the policy, employers can reimburse employees for business use of phones, tablets, home office, broadband and more! Companies looking to optimize spend often have a hard time rethinking their old processes. As a new year approaches, they look at the budget and make cuts in familiar places. There are better ways. 

With the right BYO policy, employers can ensure reimbursements are based on the roles of their mobile workforce and reflect the business use of their assets. That means instead of overpaying (or underpaying) your workers with fixed stipends, companies can enforce fair and equitable reimbursements that reflect their mobile workers’ job personas, as well as the business use of smartphone, tablet, broadband and/or home office services.   This may also help with recruiting outside talent and retaining talent already in the company (but more on that later). Finally, with a proper BYO policy, employers have more oversight over payments. Once accurate reimbursement becomes the standard, they can better understand which individuals receive role-based payments while others do not require the same level of device support.  

Gain Efficiencies 

Amalgam Insights says that 117 million personal devices are used for business. That’s a lot. With the right BYO policy, employers can boost reimbursement program engagement and visibility. That means knowing which employees receive what reimbursement and why. This process also simplifies T&E. Instead of relying on stipends that lack accuracy, or waiting for expense report submissions, companies deliver accurate reimbursements to employees. This also makes life easier for the administrators. No more tracking down phone usage or department heads to determine who gets what. With the right policy, admins have access to dashboards that share exactly who qualifies and receives which reimbursements. 

Attract and Retain Talent

Standing out in a competitive industry isn’t just a challenge for candidates. Companies look for ways they can gain an edge over other businesses hiring top talent. One reason the Bring Your Own program approach is so popular with companies is because of how popular it is with current and potential employees. 

Whether the employee will be using their personal phone, tablet or home office, employers that reimburse them fairly and accurately gain an advantage. No longer limited to corporate-provided devices or settings, employees are free to easily interact with personal devices. Rather than submit expense reports for that personal use, the right policy means reimbursements are directly deposited where the employee prefers. The flexibility is a big draw for both current and potential employees, but the right BYO policy is also easy to configure and manage. 

Mitigate Risk 

Companies work better when their employees are invested and engaged. Not reimbursing employees fairly is a great way to create a disgruntled workforce. But there is another big risk a company can avoid with the right BYO program. 

Fair and accurate reimbursements based on real-life data support employees in a way fixed stipends simply cannot. For instance, a comprehensive data-backed Bring Your Own program should regularly update rate components to reflect local cost differences and changes. A consistent data-driven program will give employers peace of mind that rates are accurate and can protect the company from potential lawsuits around labor law infraction. 

Instead of fearing scattered data and disorganization, the right vendor can provide centralized reimbursement records. Being able to access all necessary reimbursement information in one platform can be a serious game changer.  

Next Steps with BYO 

BYO is taking the business world by storm. According to Gartner, 32% of time for the Under 40 Workforce is spent working from a smartphone or tablet. Companies that enable their employees to use not only their personal devices, but also their home offices and broadband for work have a lot to gain. From optimized spend and increased efficiency to talent attraction and risk mitigation, BYO is the right choice. What comes next is figuring out the vendor to use. Interested in exploring your options? Learn more about the Motus BYO solution today. 

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