Q - A: Finetuning personnel policies on cell phone usage and bereavement leave

Q Our company wants to implement a policy to limit personal cell phone usage only to break times. Can we ask workers to put their phones in their work lockers or on their supervisors desks?

Yes, you may either require or allow employees the choice to leave their phones at home or in their vehicles. Requiring employees who do bring their phones into the workplace to put them in their individual work lockers may be the better option to minimize lost or stolen phone issues associated with them being left in a supervisors care. Q Should we allow bereavement leave for an employee to attend the funeral of her live-in boyfriends mother? Our bereavement policy covers employees mothers, fathers, siblings, children, grandparents, and in-laws.

If you operate in a state that recognizes common law marriage (recognition of marriage due to length of cohabitation and other considerations) and the requirements for common law marriage have been satisfied in this instance, then the leave could qualify under the inlaws provision. If you dont operate in a state that recognizes common law marriage or the requirements havent been satisfied, then theres no obligation under your policy to allow the leave. Conversely, theres no prohibition against allowing it, either. Expansion of the leave in this instance, however, could result in an allegation of disparate treatment if you later reject the request of an employee in a different protected class (sex, race, age, etc.) whose bereavement leave also doesnt technically fall within the qualification requirements.