Cell Phone Request Procedures

  1. All Plans, Policies, and Procedures
  2. Cell Phone Request Procedures

In order to ensure availability of communicating when conducting business, the District has adopted three options for using cellular phones.

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Communication is vital to the daily operation of a school district. At NOCCCD, quick access by telephone must be available to certain employees due to the nature of their assignment. This includes the Chancellor’s executive staff, members of the emergency response groups, employees “on­call” after normal business hours, employees away from their normal work stations and is necessary mostly for emergency calls.

These guidelines were also designed to conform to the requirement of the Internal Revenue Service of strictly monitoring business calls and personal calls while using District assets.

This procedure does not apply to student workers, part­time, or temporary personnel that do not have a compelling reason for using a cellular phone.

The Vice ­Chancellor, Finance & Facilities, has the ultimate authority in interpreting and administering the District Cellular Phone guidelines

The District offers three type of assistance/reimbursement for employees who need to conduct District business by cell phone. This procedure will be used by all employees of NOCCCD. This includes Cypress College, Fullerton College, and NOCE.

As per BP 6450 Wireless or Cellular Telephone Use, the use of a wireless or cellular telephone while driving a motor vehicle on District business is discouraged. If telephone use is necessary, it must be done in compliance with California law.

Cell Phone Options

A cellular phone allowance may be requested by submitting a Request for Cellular Phone Allowance form. This form states the business need for the allowance and must be approved by the immediate supervisor and forwarded to the District or campus Business Officer and Chancellor’s Staff for review and finally to the Vice­ Chancellor, Finance & Facilities, for approval. Upon approval, the form is sent to the Payroll Department for processing. The allowance will be included in the monthly paycheck and in the employee’s W­2 as additional income. It will be the responsibility of the employee to advise the Payroll Department in writing (with a copy to the supervisor) if the allowance is no longer needed due to a change in assignment. The employee’s cost center will be charged for the paid allowance.

The amount of the allowance will be reviewed annually for adequacy and any change will be communicated accordingly.

Employees may be reimbursed for the business use of their personal cellular phones. They are, however, responsible for settling their obligations with the telephone carrier. The reimbursement will only be for the business portion of charges exceeding the plan maximum minutes. Reimbursement shall meet the following conditions:

  1. Submit a Cellular Phone Reimbursement Calculation form. The form provides the steps on how to calculate the business portion of the billing;
  2. Attach a copy of the monthly billing statement with the business calls highlighted;
  3. Attach an approved Petty Cash Voucher that includes the cost center to be charged.

Employees requiring the use of a District-­owned cellular phone must fill out the Request for District Cellular Phone, found in the Cellphone Request Procedure form below. This form requires the justification for the request, approved by the Budget Officer, and forwarded to the Chancellor’s Staff for action. Once the approval has been obtained, the requesting employee will arrange to complete two (2) purchase requisitions, one for the purchase of the desired unit and one for the monthly service plan. The District Purchasing Department will arrange to have three (3) corporate-­shared plans for each location (Verizon, Sprint/Nextel, and AT&T). It is recommended that each location select one carrier in order to maximize on the volume discount. Upon receipt of the unit, the requestor will be notified to pick­up the unit and the Cellular Phone Checkout Sheet completed by District Purchasing as the unit is issued to the employee. The Cellular Phone Checkout Sheet will be forwarded to the respective Budget Officer who will follow their adopted method of tracking cellular phones, until these are eventually returned.

Procedures and Other Information

The Campus/District Budget Officer will have extra units available to be checked out for short­ term use (up to a few days). The Temporary Use of Cellular Phone Checkout Sheet will be used to monitor temporary use of cellular phones. These units will be used solely for business purposes.

It is expected that employees using District­owned cellular phones do so in a responsible and ethical manner. The following should be observed:

  1. District­owned cellular phones are the property of the District and should be treated, used, and safeguarded as such. If an employee damages or loses a District­owned unit, it must be reported to their respective Business Officer immediately;
  2. Employees should not use the cellular phones for illegal transactions, harassment, or obscene behavior in accordance with other existing District policies;
  3. All costs associated with issued cellular phones will be charged to the appropriate cost center. Monthly itemized billings will be sent directly to the District and will be forwarded to the respective unit Budget Officer who will review the charges;
  4. These cellular phones are to be used for business. If personal calls are made from these units, employees will be required to reimburse the District for the personal use portion. Monthly, each employee will be required to fill out the Personal Use of District Cellular Phone form whether personal calls are made or not. This, along with the itemized monthly billing statement, will be sent to the respective unit Budget Officer for review. This is to satisfy the recordkeeping requirement of the Internal Revenue Service.

The Vice Chancellor, Finance & Facilities, the unit Business Officer, and the employee’s immediate manager will be advised of any breaches of this procedure and will be responsible for remedial action which may include revocation of this privilege to use District cellular phones and possible disciplinary action.