The City of Minneapolis recognizes the need for cellular phones, pagers, and combination cell phone/pager/radio units to conduct its business, and through this policy outlines the responsibilities associated with the provision of this equipment.
This policy includes:
Council approval: June 22, 2001, Council Action 2001A-0844
The City of Minneapolis recognizes the need for cellular phones, pagers, and combination cell phone/pager/radio units to conduct its business, and through this policy outlines the responsibilities associated with the provision of this equipment.
This policy supercedes any and all prior City of Minneapolis policies on cellular phones, pagers, and combination cell phone/pager/radio equipment and use. The provisions of this policy should be considered minimum requirements and standards for City departments; nothing precludes a department from implementing a more stringent policy for management purposes. If a department develops procedures that are different than those contained in this policy, they will inform the union representing the effected employees and provide an opportunity for input.
A “business call” is defined as a telephone call made for the purpose of the City’s business. A “personal call” is a telephone call that is not for the purpose of the City’s business. “Cell phones” refers to cellular phones, pagers, and combination cell phone/pager/radio units, including digital and analogue equipment.
“Roaming” is a call to or from a cell phone that is located outside of its “home area”, as defined by the carrier’s coverage map. Typically, cell phones indicate roaming calls by displaying an “R” on the cell phone screen.
“Long Distance” refers to any call made to a telephone with an area code other than 612, 651, 763, or 952.
City departments are responsible for continuous evaluation and monitoring of their internal cell phone practice to ensure compliance with this policy.
Requests for cell phones must be authorized by the employee’s Department Head or Department Head’s designee, as set out in the attachment to this policy. Cell phone use should be authorized or continued only if there is evidence that the cell phone significantly aids service
delivery and/or measurably increases productivity. Cell phones should not be authorized based solely upon the level of a position or as a perk. Departments are responsible for ensuring that they have available funds to pay for airtime and on-going cell phone costs.
Department Heads are responsible for ensuring that cell phone use is appropriate and that each employee is on the appropriate plan. A staff person should be identified by the Department Head to be responsible for the initial review of the cell phone billing statement with the intent of identifying excessive air time charges or other anomalies on the statement. These identified items should be brought to the attention of the Department Head or designee for appropriate action.
It is the responsibility of the Department Head or designee to ensure that all employees who are assigned the use of the cell phone receive a copy of this written policy and sign the attached receipt form. Copies of this receipt form must be retained in the department personnel file.
Employees are responsible for returning equipment upon transferring from one department to another, or upon leaving employment with the City. The employee will be liable for the equipment and all airtime charges incurred after leaving City employment but before the equipment is returned.
The City recognizes that employees may have to make personal calls. Employees should minimize City cell phone use for personal calls. Employees should use good judgment when making personal calls and recognize that the City incurs costs for each minute of airtime and that public dollars will be used to pay for that cost.
Employee A has cell phone plan that allows for 210 minutes at a cost of $25 per month. In the month of November, Employee A uses 205 minutes for business related calls and 10 minutes for personal calls, making a total of 215 minutes. The overage rate is $0.17 per minute. Employee A must reimburse the city for 5 minutes at $0.17 per minute, totaling $0.85, plus tax.
Employees must reimburse the City for personal calls that directly impose charges on the City over and above the prevailing plan, including charges for overage minutes, roaming charges, and long distance charges. Employees must use the “overage rate” as specified on the bill to calculate the amount to reimburse for overages, and must use the detailed listings on the bill to calculate roaming and long distance reimbursement.
Reimbursements need not be made monthly, but must be made when the employee owes $50 or more or leaves the department or City.
It will be the responsibility of the department management to determine and track personal cell calls and the reimbursement process. Department management should provide employees any overage reports on a monthly basis.
Following the City’s State-Approved Records Retention schedule (effective May 16th, 2000), the City is required to maintain the detailed listings of all cell phone calls for a period of six years from receipt of the bill. Departments are the Office of Record for these detailed listings. Accounts Payable is the Office of Record for summary bills and is required to hold these summary bills for a period of ten years.
| Department | Position authorized to approve |
|---|---|
| Assessing | City Assessor Director of Assessments Manager, Assessment Services |
| City Attorney | City Attorney |
| City Clerk | City Clerk Assistant City Clerk |
| City Council Offices | City Clerk Assistant City Clerk |
| City Coordinator | City Coordinator Assistant City Coordinator, Finance Assistant City Coordinator, Human Resources Assistant City Coordinator, ITS Assistant City Coordinator, Operations and Regulatory Services Director of Intergovernmental Relations Director of Communications |
| Civilian Review Authority | Executive Director CRA Board Chairman |
| Civil Rights | Executive Director Deputy Director |
| Fire | Chief of Fire Department Supervisor, Administration Services |
| Health | Commissioner of Health Director of Planning and Administration Director of Employment and Training |
| Mayor’s Office | Mayor Chief of Staff |
| Planning | Planning Director Planning Supervisor (2) |
| Police | Chief of Police Deputy Chief, North Field Services Deputy Chief, South Field Services Director, Internal Services Bureau Deputy Chief, Central Services Bureau Director, Emergency Communications Center |
| Public Works | City Engineer—Director of Public Works Deputy Director of Public Works Director, Management Services Director, Administrative Services Director, Engineering Services Director, Equipment Services Director, Field Services Director, Property Services Director, Solid Waste and Recycling Services Director, Transportation and Parking Services Director, Water Works |
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