Personal Mobile and Authenticator Apps/Business Call Apps

[NelsonM3]

I work for a franchise and currently use three different authenticator apps for connecting to our core systems.

Annoyingly, every sub-system that's opened requires a further authentication on the app (i.e. if I need 10 systems open, I need to do 10 authentications. It's absolutely ridiculous and doesn't seem like it's going to get any better.

As part of my job, I'm required to use an app to send videos to customers via an app. These are nearly always off site and using my data.

I'm also expected to have an app on my phone so any incoming calls can be taken whilst i'm off site, whilst this doesn't use data, it's still ultimately a degradation of my personal battery/device.

If I didn't have a personal mobile and broke or lost it, I wouldn't be physically able to do my job, anyone else have this frustration?

So all in all, my personal mobile phone is probably 85% business usage, to the point that that the battery has degraded by 15% in the space of 16 months!

I've done some basic research, but it seems that unless the phone or contract itself is being paid by the company, I can't claim any tax relief. Which is a bit annoying as I feel like i'm paying my companies phone contract!

Anyone else had this, or at least been able to claim some tax relief? Or am I just a whinging git?

[bitchstewie]

I'd be more inclined to ask for a company mobile.

My own view of the world is that authenticator type use isn't too much of an ask.

When it gets into stuff like doing actual work on a personal phone it doesn't seem unreasonable to ask the employer to supply one.

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Also you should ask your IT team if the MFA / Single Sign On setup is correct as 10 apps = 10 MFA authentications is .... not usually how it is done.

[miniman]

I have no issue with things like Authenticator or other work apps but I draw the line when any of them require more invasive nonsense. Recently we were asked to install something such that any work related site / service opened in Edge. Nope.

[JoshSm]

Nothing work related ever has or ever will go near my personal devices. If something is *required*, then the business can provide it and pay for it.

Part of this is general principle, part of it is trust (or lack of) on my part of having anything business related getting near my own stuff, and a big big chunk is data control; who would *ever* think is was a good idea to be doing customer stuff other than on a company device? Even if I wanted to use my own laptop/storages devices/whatever I'd be blocked & firmly reminded not to.

Though given the apparent systems chaos with the authenticators I can see why trivial stuff like that has been overlooked.

If you aren't contractually obliged to own and maintain a suitably specified compatible device to support this work, and you aren't being funded for it, then as far as they're concerned you have no phone and they need to supply one for those tasks.

[Countdown]

I think most decent places would provide you with either a phone or a cash lump sum in lieu of a phone.

The $64m question is - how decent is your Employer and how well is this likely to go down? if they give you one are they going to have to give everybody else one? How much do you enjoy working there? What are your options if they say "no"? How much is the cost of a phone in relation to your salary (eg if I was being paid £10m a month i'd be happy to provide my own phone, if i was being paid minimum wage I wouldn't ).