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The following sample policies were excerpted from The Book of Company Policies, published by HR Specialist, © 2007. Edit for your organization's purposes.

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Sample Policy 1

 “Office equipment, including telephones, copiers, fax machines, voice mail and e-mail are to be used for XYZ business. Although limited personal use of such equipment is permitted, excessive personal use will lead to discipline up to and including discharge, as will abuse of the equipment. Moreover, such equipment is at all times XYZ property, and XYZ reserves the right to enter and inspect such equipment and its contents at any time without prior notice.”

“The ABC Company’s vehicles represent a considerable investment by the company. For that reason and because these vehicles must be in excellent condition at all times, the following rules apply to their maintenance and use:

• Vehicles are to be driven only by those employees who are specifically authorized to do so. Unauthorized use of a company vehicle will result in strict disciplinary action, up to and including immediate dismissal.
• Any employee who is authorized to drive a company vehicle, and allows any other unauthorized use of the vehicle will be subject to the same disciplinary action described above.
• Each sales or service representative who is assigned a specific vehicle is to maintain that vehicle according to the ABC Company Vehicle Maintenance policy.
• ABC Company vehicles are for company business only and are not to be used for transporting family members or anyone not employed by ABC Company.” 

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What's at Issue

Employees get so accustomed to using company equipment and supplies on the job that many of them start thinking of your property as theirs. It may not even occur to them that using “their” computer or the photocopier to pursue personal business is actually theft—unless they’ve obtained your permission. Moreover, some may regard free use of office equipment as a perk for the work they do.

It’s up to the employer to set a policy on when, if ever, company vehicles, equipment and other property may be used for personal purposes. You might want to prohibit all such use, or you might want to allow occasional use within reason. Either way, be sure your employees know what’s allowed and what isn’t, both to discourage stealing and to reassure a faithful employee that it’s OK to make an occasional copy of a personal document.

When drafting a policy consider these issues:

Availability of equipment. Personal use of copiers, fax machines, modems and the like may tie up company equipment when it’s needed for business.

Cost of supplies. One pen, note pad or whatever doesn’t cost much. But multiply that by 10 employees and you’re talking a noticeable expense in a 12-month period.

Equipment wear and tear. The more it’s used, the sooner it will need servicing, repair or replacement.

Productivity. Time spent on personal business is time not spent performing company business.

Liability. If one of your employees is using your equipment in his moonlighting business, your firm could be held liable if his product/work caused harm to a client or was not up to quality.

Goodwill. Letting employees use your equipment to make the occasional copy, send a fax, make a short phone call or write letters during work breaks helps foster a congenial work environment and indicates your support of work/life balance. Employers who try to police or ban every use of company property are likely to create resentment.

Think about the atmosphere you want to create. An environment of mutual trust is nearly always more conducive to productivity than one in which Big Brother never stops watching. But leaving everything to trust leaves you open to misunderstandings and downright rip-offs. Consider the following:

• How relaxed or draconian do you want to be? Will you permit occasional use of your property or forbid it altogether? Let employees know what is and is not permissible and what the penalty is for misappropriating equipment and supplies.
• Does your current policy match your practice? If you say company property is off-limits for personal use but you allow employees to use it in moderation, they will have every reason to believe you aren’t serious about your policy. That will make it difficult for you to discipline those who are taking advantage your goodwill without raising charges of unfairness.
• Do you have reason to believe employees are being too free with company property now? Possible signs include a rapid turnover of supplies that can’t be accounted for by business needs or a change in business practice, noticeable increases in fax or copier costs (again unrelated to the volume of business) or phone lines being constantly tied up. If it’s supplies like paper and pens that are disappearing too fast, you may want to limit employees’ access to them; make it your policy that supplies must be requisitioned on a form that requires a supervisor’s sign-off.
• Do employees know what you expect of them? What you consider obvious isn’t always so obvious to employees—or at least so they say. Example: A company fired an employee for personal use of company property. He sued for wrongful discharge—and won. Reason: The judge bought the employee’s claim that since the company had no formal policy on the subject, the plaintiff didn’t know it wasn’t permissible. At the very least, you need to make it clear that employees are not allowed to use proprietary information for any purpose other than company business.

Recommendation: You may find it helpful to post a copy of your property policy near your copiers, fax machines and supply storage cabinets. Word the policy carefully so that it doesn’t cast your employees as potential thieves or doesn’t negate what you allow in practice. For example, it may be fine with you if employees send an occasional fax or copy a few pages on their own time provided it doesn’t keep company business waiting. But you probably don’t want them sending or copying reams of information at your expense. Use your policy to draw that line.