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Public Works - Facilitator Talking Points for Use with the Scenarios for Discussion on Appropriate City Equipment Use Scenario 1 -- Relevant City Policy Statements: • City equipment is not a perk or benefit of employment or part of an employee's compensation package. • Personal use of city office equipment and technology is authorized if it is incidental, infrequent, and of short duration. • The use must be done on the employee's personal time. Personal time means during rest breaks, meat periods and before and after work as defined by collective bargaining agreements, City policies, and department work rules. • Employees are not allowed to make personal long distance telephone calls from City telephones unless they use a personal calling card. If it is an emergency and the employee does not have a personal calling card, s /he may make a long distance call and reimburse the City as soon as possible afterwards. Employees should notify their supervisor if they have made an emergency call. • This policy does not limit the use by City employees on their own time of City equipment and technology that is available for use by members of the • public, such as computers or copiers located in the library. • Using City equipment during work time not only may constitute a misuse of equipment but poses a very significant risk that the employee is abusing City time. The City strictly prohibits the personal use of its equipment during work time, subject to the following limited exception. o The use is essential and cannot reasonably wait until non -work time. For example, on rare occasion, an employee may have an urgent need to communicate with family members, doctors, service technicians or school personnel, or take care of a time- sensitive matter during working hours. On these rare occasions, personal use of the telephone or e-mail service is permitted, provided that the use cannot wait until a break, meat period, or after work. • • The use must not interfere with any employee's job activities. This means that the use may not distract any employee from his or her duties. Scenario 1 - City perspective: 1. Lucy's phone call would have been more appropriately made on a break or after work, if at all possible. If notification to her partner of her changed schedule couldn't wait until after work, during work -time would be appropriate IF call was kept to a very short duration (see FAQ #1). The duration of the call should be short enough so as to not distract from her job duties OR those of her co- workers. 2. If a public phone was present in her facility (a phone available to any member of the public), it would have been better for Lucy to have used that phone, as opposed to her city desk phone.