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(a) Purpose. This policy states the official guidelines for acquisition and usage of the Village’s communications equipment and services and provides the framework for proper usage of Village issued telephones, cellular phones and pagers. The frameworks flexibility enables officials and employees to provide the best service to the public while limiting public expense. While occasional personal use is permitted, employees should make every effort to avoid using cellular phones, pagers and desk/wall, cordless phones for personal calls.
(b) Policy Statement. Village telephones, cellular phones and pagers are provided to Village officials, appointees and employees who by nature of their job have a routine and continuing business need for use on official Village business. The Village expects appropriate and responsible use of Village communication equipment. Elected officials, appointees and department superintendents are expected to ensure that:
(1) The need for each item of Village-owned communication equipment and services including but not limited to telephones, cellular phones, and pagers are clearly justified for Village business purposes;
(2) Alternative solutions for work production and communications have been considered;
(3) Employees provided with Village communication equipment and services understand the purpose and limitation of usage;
(4) Equipment usage account billings outlining details of usage are received and reviewed for conformance with this policy;
(5) Employees reimburse the Village for non-business use if required by this policy;
(6) Use of a Village equipment usage account is terminated when no longer justified by business requirements or when the employee has by actions demonstrated a disregard for the limitation of this policy.
Employees, who by the nature of their job do not have a routine and continuing business need for cellular equipment but on occasion need to use their personal cellular phone for critical Village business, may be approved for reimbursement. Reimbursement will be made not more than one (1) time per month for business use of a personal equipment usage account. The amount of reimbursement will be limited to the lesser of the actual amount of business phone calls or the amount of the monthly Village rate for an additional cellular phone added to the existing contract. A copy of the personal invoice with the business calls highlighted must be submitted with a requisition for reimbursement.
(c) Definitions.
(1) Telephone: Any Village issued desk, wall or cordless phone connected to the Village telephone equipment system and charged to the Village.
(2) Cellular equipment: Any Village provided cellular telephone also known as wireless telephones which transmit communications via tower antennas, cellular data transmissions/receipt equipment and radio-cellular telephones and any accessories for such owned by the Village.
(3) Pagers/Beepers: A small radio receiver device that when activated and dialed transmits a signal that alerts the person carrying the device.
(4) Base monthly charge: The minimum charge including local usage fees, taxes, franchise fees and other similar costs for one month of service through an equipment usage account.
(5) Equipment usage account: A contract or service agreement by a vendor to provide cellular telecommunication service to a specific item of cellular equipment.
(d) Coverage. All users of the Village of Carrollton’s telecommunication system.
(e) Procedures.
(1) Cellular phones are provided based on authorization of the Mayor and Council to the following Village employees for use for public business in the interest of the citizens of the Village of Carrollton:
Mayor, Police Chief, Water/Sewer Department Superintendent, Street Department Superintendent and two police cruisers.
Pagers will be provided based on authorization of the Mayor and Council and shall be reviewed from year to year.
(2) The Mayor shall establish a system to regularly review users so that designated employees demonstrate a need for cellular phones and pagers to increase efficiency and effectiveness in serving the public.
(3) The Mayor shall establish a system where the Village Administrator and/or the Chief Fiscal Officer reviews as appropriate the cellular phone bills to ensure their use in accordance with this section.
(4) Since the contract with the service provider has a limited amount of share time, employees and officials are cautioned to exercise efficiency and caution with cellular phone usage to prevent costly overages in the time parameters allotted. Each cellular phone has 200 allocated free minutes per month. However, should an individual cellular phone included in the contract not use its allocated share it may be used by another cellular phone as long as the phone using over their allocated minutes does not incur additional charges to the Village.
(5) Employees assigned cellular phones shall reimburse the Village for any personal calls where those calls cause the Village’s bill for that phone to be increased as a consequence of exceeding allocated free minutes on the plan, roaming charges, long distance charges, and any other charges above and beyond the regular monthly service charge for such phone, Personal use of a cell phone is not prohibited but use exceeding de minimus use or that causes additional costs above and beyond the regular monthly service charge shall be reimbursed to the Village by the employee.
(6) Employees must safeguard any cellular and pager equipment in their possession. Employees shall not allow an unauthorized user access to any Village owned communication equipment except in an emergency situation. The loss of any cellular or pager equipment must be reported to the Village Administrator or Chief Fiscal Officer immediately. If theft is suspected, the police should also be notified immediately.
(7) Employees shall exercise extreme caution when driving and only use a cell phone when the vehicle is parked, unless utilizing a “hands-free” speakerphone. If your cell phone rings while driving, allow your voicemail to take the message and retrieve the message when the vehicle is safely parked.
(8) Employees shall limit all cellular calls to no more than ten (10) minutes. Calls over the ten (10) minute limit shall be documented and justification will be required.
Knowingly or intentionally violating any provision contained herein shall be grounds for disciplinary action which may include termination of employment.
(f) Acknowledgment. As an employee of the Village of Carrollton, I have read and understand the Village of Carrollton’s Policy on telephones, cellular phone and pagers acceptable use. Further, that I am aware that any violation of this policy may subject me to disciplinary action, up to and including discharge from employment.
Name Supervisor/Superintendent Signature of Employee Date |
(Ord. 2005-07. Passed 7-11-05.)
(a) Purpose. To define the proper use of electronic mail (e-mail) and Internet services at the Village of Carrollton.
(b) Policy. The Village of Carrollton is committed to providing an environment that encourages the use of computers and electronic information as essential tools to support the Village of Carrollton’s business and improving our service to the public. It is the responsibility of each employee to ensure that this technology is used for proper business purposes, in a manner that does not compromise the confidentiality of proprietary or other sensitive information, and to use the e-mail and access to the Internet in a productive manner.
(c) Coverage. All users of the Village of Carrollton’s computer systems.
(d) Passwords. Computer passwords if selected by the employee/authorized user must be provided to the department supervisor if a password has not been assigned by the department supervisor.
(e) E-mail Procedures.
(1) All e-mail correspondence is the property of the Village of Carrollton and is primarily for business-related purposes only. E-mail communications are considered public records subject to disclosure to the public pursuant to the Ohio Public Record’s Act.
(2) Employee e-mail communications are not considered private or confidential despite any such designation either by the sender or the recipient.
(3) Messages sent to recipients outside the Village of Carrollton, if sent over the Internet and not encrypted, are not secure. Encryption requires prior company approval.
(4) The Village of Carrollton reserves the right to inspect the e-mail system, including an employee’s mailbox at its discretion in the ordinary course of business in order to assure compliance with this policy. Please note that in certain situations, the Village of Carrollton may access and disclose messages sent over its e-mail system.
(5) The existence of passwords and “message delete” functions do not restrict or eliminate the Village of Carrollton’s ability or right to access electronic communications. The delete function does not eliminate the message from the system.
(6) Employees shall not share an e-mail password, provide e-mail access to an unauthorized user or access another user’s e-mail box without authorization of the Mayor and/or appointing authority.
(7) Employees shall not post, display or make easily available any access.
(8) Offensive, demeaning or disruptive messages are prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, messages that are inconsistent with Employer’s policies concerning “Equal Employment Opportunity” and “Sexual Harassment and Other Unlawful Harassment”.
(9) This policy supersedes all prior company policies.
Any employee who violates this policy shall be subject to discipline, up to and including discharge.
(f) Internet Procedures.
(1) The Village of Carrollton’s network including its connection to the Internet, is to be used primarily for business-related purpose. Any unauthorized use of the Internet is strictly prohibited. Unauthorized use includes, but is not limited to: connecting, posting or downloading pornographic material; engaging in computer “hacking” and other related activities; attempting to disable or compromise the security of information contained on the Village of Carrollton’s computers.
(2) The Village of Carrollton reserves the right to inspect any and all files stored on computers or other electronic devices which are the property of the Village of Carrollton in order to assure compliance with this policy. Employees have no personal privacy right in any matter created, received, stored in or sent from any Village computer system which are the property of the Village of Carrollton.
(3) Because postings placed on the Internet may display the Village of Carrollton’s address, make certain before posting information on the Internet that the information reflects the standards and policies of the Village of Carrollton. Under no circumstances shall information of a confidential, sensitive or otherwise proprietary nature be placed on the Internet.
(4) Subscriptions to news groups and mailing lists are permitted when the subscription is for a work-related purpose. Any other subscriptions are prohibited.
(5) Information posted or viewed on the Internet may constitute published material. Therefore, reproduction of information posted or otherwise available over the Internet may be done only by express permission from the author or copyright holder.
(6) Unless the prior approval of management has been obtained, users may not establish Internet or other external network connections that could allow unauthorized persons to gain access to the Village of Carrollton’s systems and information. These connections include the establishment of hosts with public modem dial-ins, World Wide Web home pages and File Transfer Protocol (FTP).
(7) All files downloaded from the Internet must be checked for possible computer viruses and have approval from the employee’s direct supervisor. Virus-checking software must be current prior to downloading anything from the internet.
(8) Offensive, demeaning or disruptive messages are prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to messages that are inconsistent with the Village of Carrollton’s policies concerning “Equal Employment Opportunity” and “Sexual Harassment and Other Unlawful Harassment.”
(9) No employee may use the Internet for operating a business for personal gain, sending chain letters, soliciting money for religious or political causes, or any other purpose that interferes with normal Village business activities.
(10) Each employee using Village electronic communications facilities shall identify himself or herself honestly, accurately and completely at all times.
(11) No employee shall grant anyone who is not an employee of the Village access to Village electronic communications facilities.
(12) The provisions of this section shall not apply to the Village Solicitor or members of the Police Department when engaged in legitimate law enforcement activities which, due to their nature, may require Internet and e-mail communications which would otherwise violation the provisions of this policy.
Any employee who violates this policy shall be subject to discipline, up to and including discharge.
(g) Acknowledgment. As an employee of the Village of Carrollton, I understand that the confidentiality and protection of the Village of Carrollton’s information is of the utmost importance. I have read and understand the Village of Carrollton’s Policy on acceptable use of e-mail and Internet access.
If I receive or select a password of my choice authorized by the department supervisor for access to e-mail, the Internet or any other system of electronically stored computer information, I will use it only for authorized purposes. I agree not to use a code, access a file or retrieve any stored communications other than where explicitly authorized unless there has been prior clearance by an authorized representative of the Village of Carrollton. I will notify my supervisor immediately if I believe that another person may have unauthorized access to my password.
I understand that all information stored in, transmitted or received through the Village of Carrollton’s systems of printed or computer information is the property of the Village of Carrollton and is to be used only for job-related purposes. I further understand that authorized representatives of the Village of Carrollton will monitor the use of the Village of Carrollton’s systems of printed or computer information from time to time to ensure that such use is consistent with the Village of Carrollton’s policies and interests. Further, I am aware that use of a Village of Carrollton provided password or code does not in any way restrict the Village of Carrollton’s right or ability to access electronic communications.
I am aware that any violation of the Village of Carrollton’s e-mail or Internet Access Policy may subject me to disciplinary action, up to and including discharge from employment.
Name Mayor Signature of Employee Supervisor/Superintendent Date |
(Ord. 2005-08. Passed 7-11-05.)
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