Add a basic phone to a smart phone currently on a single line

[shoptalk1]

With the new family share plans, if I need to add a basic phone to my current plan, would I be required to be on a family share plan even if only one phone was capable of using data? Is this something I should be doing quickly if I think I might need to or would I be fine to wait a few months?

Someone at work got stupid, made a video of a safety violation and uploaded it to youtube when they felt they were being ignored by the company, this prompted a new policy. The company prefers that we have a cell phone that we can be contacted on and we can be issued a permit to have the phone on our person during working hours. The idea is we can use it for work related calls providing the privilege of using it for personal calls is not abused. Under the new policy, there are NO guidelines as to what kind of phone we can have as long as we get cellular service where we need it. I asked and they said more people are making the move to prepaid so they changed their policy to allow prepaid as long as the service was "dependable" and I was in the service area.

Now comes the tricky part, all personnel must agree that by bringing a phone into the building, it can be confiscated for up to 3 days without cause or notice. However these are working days, so if the phone is confiscated on Thursday, it may not be returned until Monday, if Monday is a legal Holiday, you may not get the phone back until Tuesday. Basically what they said is if someone reports that I was using my phones camera to take unauthorised photos or make excessive calls, they don't need any proof, they can just demand that I hand over my phone and they have the right to go clear through it to determine if company policy was violated. It goes on to say that if suspicious activity is found on your phone or if security measures prevent them from accessing your information, they reserve the right to hand your phone off to law enforcement for further investigation and you would have to deal with them to get your phone back.

The only true safe way to have a phone is to leave it in your personal vehicle with the doors locked as they are not allowed to reach into your vehicle. Phones that a turned off and kept in lockers, lock boxes, etc are not as likely to be confiscated but no real guidelines are given on when a phone might be confiscated and they seem to think they have the right to search lockers at their discretion and remove personal property from them.

Problem is, this phone isn't something that's used frequently and some months not at all. It only needs to be able to place and receive calls. I'd like to block text and data just so that if they look at my phone, they don't have a clue what I do on my own time. Some think it's completely silly to have a contract to a second phone I may not even use and while it's not required, I dropped my landline, so my cell phone is my ONLY phone. It would be completely unacceptable to have to leave work without my phone. What's more there's a clause that says they are not responsible for any damage caused to your phone while it's confiscated, damages are not to be reported to our insurance carrier, we are not to contact our carrier about our phones being confiscated or report them stolen and we are not to discuss this policy with any 3rd party.

The way it stands now, I'm under contract with a Rezound and data plan, which is fine, but I don't want someone just demanding that I hand it over for no reason, knowing everything about my personal life then returning it broken 3 days later telling me I'm SOL. Honestly, I considered paying my ETF, dumping my Rezound and getting 2 prepaid phones. There is no 4g here yet so I don't think I would really be out anything, but I got talked out of that one. After that it seems cheaper just to add a line to an existing account rather than go to prepaid for the 2nd line. I had thought Gusto 2, $20 at Wally World, $1.99 daily plan then if phone is confiscated, let them keep it and go buy another. Of course if there was some glitch and I got a 1 minute call every day, this would prove very expensive. I considered both Page Plus and Straight Talk, but neither seems as cheap as adding a line. So my question is, do I need to be in a hurry to do this or do I have time to research this and wait? Would it be better to pay the ETF and get 2 basic phones so no data is required? I want the 2nd like to only make and receive calls, so I need my best option.

[Vatothe0]

Page plus has a plan for $12 a month. Just get that on a cheap used phone with no camera and be done with it.

[ben7337]

Be careful about leaving your phone in the car with a battery too. Batteries and heat don't go so well. I'd recommend taking the battery out before going into work each day.

Also is it legal for employers to require employees to agree to these things or is it possible this company is actually breaking some sort of law with these requirements?

[HF305]

That policy is really strange. Many places simply say no cameras / no cell phones allowed inside the plant, which is perfectly legal. I suggest you interpret their policy that way and simply don't bring any phone inside. The best place to leave a phone in a car is under a seat or in the trunk, it does not get as hot there.

The justification for a "no camera" rule is to try to keep military or trade secrets secret. Trying to cover up safety violations is not acceptable. Whether you have pictures or not, when a company refuses to correct unsafe work conditions you should take it to the authorities.

[shoptalk1]

Trust me, I so badly wanted to get mad and quit, but then I get intimidated by the place and back down. I think they should provide us with phones, radios or something, but they don't. The other day we had an incident where something malfunctioned causing $15,000 damage to a machine and thousands of dollars worth of product had to be trashed. Help was needed, several of us were maybe 3 minutes away, but nobody had their phone turned on so they were unable to contact any of us until it was too late. I told that it was MY phone, they don't pay any of it, I had to pay for the phone, sign the contract and I pay 100% of the monthly bill myself so I wasn't going to have my phone turned on while I was on the clock. We all got our rears handed to us, I was suspended for 3 days without pay and when I got back I was wrote up for bad attitude, willful plant endangerment and failure to follow company guidelines for communications devices. Since we don't get copies of any of this stuff for ourselves, the employer holds all the cards. We just sign it, it's put in our file and that's it. Later when you want to get mad about something, they have 50 write ups on you to hold over your head.

Now the problem, none of use know what they really do when they decide they want to check our phones and if the phone is on our person, it can be checked at any time without cause. Sometimes the phone is returned within minutes and others they say they are having trouble checking it and they will be keeping it for up to 3 days. They claim they have computer software they can use to download all the information on the phone, but for all we know it could just sit on somebody's desk for 3 days to discourage the usage of certain phones then be returned.

I'm sure they are going to get tired of me coming in the store, not knowing what I want and leave without buying anything. I know all about page plus and straight talk, I had several prepaid before but someone jumped all over me for having too many phones I wasn't using and looking stupid, so I dropped them. At first I thought it would be cheaper to add a line to my present plan, but I got in on 4GB of data with the Rezound and I don't want to make any changes to my plan just add a line but I was told that may not be possible.

I really just wanted a basic flip, with a block on text and data so if anyone claimed I was sending text, my defence would be that it's blocked on my plan. I also seems with another contract the phone could be reported stolen if they refuse to give it back immediately. What ended up happening, I settled on a Samsung Proclaim from Straight Talk. The guy at the Walmart Wireless centre said this would be a cheaper option then adding a basic phone to my present account.