Travel Policies

Michelle Marie

Does anyone have a company travel policy that addresses driving (cell phone use while driving, eating while driving, getting adequate rest, passengers, etc.)? We have a small group of people on staff who need to drive as part of their jobs. Our agency provides technical assistance to communities across the country and this requires extensive travel (flying into a city and renting cars to travel to rural areas). I'd love any advice or samples of policies! Thanks.

Mel in CO

We have many remote / telecommuting employees at my organization and we had to enact a proper cell phone usage policy. Here is a snippet of the verbiage that we utilize:

"(Company) requires the safe use of cellular telephones by employees who use such telephones to conduct business with or for (Company). Employees who are assigned (Company) cellular telephones for business use, will also receive an earphone / microphone adapter for increased safety and convenience. If an employee is driving, (Company) recommends they pull off the road, as soon as they can safely do so, before initiating and/or receiving cellular telephone calls. However, if an employee is unable to pull over and stop his or her vehicle prior to receiving or initiating a cellular telephone call, (Company} requires the employee to utilize their earphone / microphone adapter, keep such business conversations brief and immediately locate a safe area to park their vehicle if the conversation becomes involved, traffic is heavy, and/or if road conditions are poor. (Company) does not permit employees to continue driving while utilizing a hand-held cellular telephone."

One note here is that we of course can not monitor our employees and ensure that they comply with this policy however with all of the legal issues surrounding the use of cell phones while driving, we felt that it was necessary to outline our expectations. Hope this helps out -- we don't have any policy regarding the other issues outlined in your posting. Good luck.

Rockie

You should have a separate cell phone policy that prohibits using cell phones while driving. Ask Smith-Barney about this. They had to pay out a multi-million dollar lawsuit to a family who had a relative killed by a Smith-Barney employee who was using a cell phone after hours, but conducting company business.

My boss is probably one of the worst offenders. He can't get out of the parking lot without cranking up the cell phone to call one of us back at the office. I think he just gets lonely. We try to send a companion out with him so he will have someone to talk to.

He has also started a phone conversation with me first thing in the morning and is still on his phone when he shows up at my office door to continue the conversation in person.

What a guy!