Company equipment question

[HTP99]

I sell new cars, part of the process of seeing in new car deliveries and handing over cars to customers has to be completed on an iPad using manufacturer supplied apps and websites.

Seeing in new cars which have just been delivered necessitates one or 2 of us being outside in a busy area noting down information, scanning codes and taking photos on the iPad.

Handing over a new car means us being with the customer, filling in information, ticking boxes and asking the customer to sign on the iPad after collection has been completed, all whilst sat in their new car.

Currently this has all been done on a single iPad which we share, given the ever increasing usage of the iPad and future things coming ie carrying out part exchange appraisals on the iPad, we will shortly all be issued with our own one.

All technicians have recently been issued with their own iPad already as much more repair work and logging of information and details has to recorded on it, today I found out they had to sign that they were financially responsible for it; loss, damage breakages etc, I am fully expecting this to be a thing for the sales team too.

Can my employer do this, we need this equipment to carry out our work as per the stipulations of the manufacturer and other systems that our employer have and want to implement in the future, we don't want these items, we have to have them to carry out our work. I don't want to be liable for any damage whilst carrying out my work, if they want us to have these then surely it's down to my employer not me?

One of the technicians has refused, the iPad is in its box, turned off and in his toolbox, another is on annual leave and I'm pretty sure he'll have a similar view.

If it matters, we will not be taking them home.

[StevieBee]

We have previously issued tablets to teams for field work.

Whilst damage and loss were covered under our general business insurance, the value of each tablet was below the excess that would have applied so we'd have to pay for repair or replacement.

Employment contracts stated that all equipment must be returned to the company at the end of each project with any loss or damage being deducted from the team member's final pay. That was the 'official' stance and intended to foster a bit of care towards the equipment amongst those who used them.

The informal stance was that we'd replace one broken or lost tablet per employee at no cost to them. The second one, they'd have to pay for.

Personally, I think this was a fair approach.

We started to use iPads but quickly recognised that the work could be carried out on cheap Android ones just as well and swapped over to them so the financial risk was minimal.

My view is that the company is right to place responsibility for the care of the tools provided on those who will use them but there needs to be some flexibility in how loss is recovered as the circumstances will differ on a case by case basis.

[snuffy]

I'd not sign anything like that. Whilst I certainly take care of any items issued for work, if they were accidentally damaged or stolen, that's a risk for the employer, not the employee.

[NDA]

I found it an awkward area.

My company (office based) issued laptops to employees and our rule was that we'd replace one, after that it was down to the employee.

But it's awkward as employees could not, for security reasons, use their own equipment - so they were forced to use company property. Some employees would leave them on the train, in the pub etc - so it was a bit of a nightmare. Some employees would leave them locked in the office and use their mobiles for email.

We had a similar issue with office key fobs too - first one lost was OK, any others would be charged.

[Pistom]

It seems unreasonable to me.

Whenever I've been asked to sign unreasonable amendments to employment contracts, I've just ignored them.

One company actually paid to replace a stolen personal phone as I'd been using it for company business at the time.

It's incredible what employers try to get away with.

We're currently looking at how much we're paying for home office use as we don't feel we're paying employees enough.

Regarding our equipment - if it gets lost or damaged - it's ours to replace.

[OldGermanHeaps]

Its unreasonable, especially if it is actual apple ipads, and not ruggedised devices intended for the workplace, ipads are a consumer device or at most for light desk based office tasks, you should have devices like panasonic toughbook tablets, galaxy tab active, or other similar industrial grade devices.
Those are far more difficult to damage. They are providing the wrong tool for the job then expecting you to be on the hook for the inevitable.
Tell them you arent signing for any liability.
I issue panasonic toughbooks, dell latitude extreme, and galaxy tab actives in an extra rugged case with brodit active van dashboard mounts. They get battered and scratched but never break.
I hear zebra and getag devices are pretty good too.

Edited by OldGermanHeaps on Sunday 16th June 11:23