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Can my employer make me use my personal phone for business? And if so, should he pay me?

Yes, if you work in California otherwise “maybe.”

Recently the Californian Court of Appeal ruled that an employee using his personal phone to make business calls should always be reimbursed. The Court ruled that the employer had violated the California Labor Code section 2802 which requires the employer to pay the employee all business-related expenses.

We are not aware of any parallel statute or regulation in Connecticut but it seems like employees here should not be taken advantage of in this way. It is possible that a claim could be made under the common law.

The law of quantum of meruit is an action to recover damages for the reasonable value of services rendered by one party to another. Another possible theory is unjust enrichment. This legal theory prevents one party from unjustly profiting at another party’s expense.

Under these theories, your employer could be made to pay you back for the money it saved by passing the operating costs of his business on to you by making you pay for your employer’s business calls.

Contact us if you have any questions!