Today almost everyone owns a smart phone, tablet or other mobile
device. Increasingly, employees want to use their own devices to
connect to company networks and to store and process company
information. While permitting such access may increase
employee productivity, it presents employers with significant
privacy and security concerns.
The challenge for employers is finding the right cost/benefit
balance for their businesses. In developing an effective
"bring your own device" (BYOD) policy,
employers must first identify which employees will be eligible for
the program.
Employers can open a BYOD program to all employees, or they can
limit participation strictly to employees who are exempt from
overtime, to a particular functional group of employees (e.g., the
sales team), or to some other category or categories that make
sense for the business. The employer must also decide how much
access to its network will be permitted—which could range
from limited access to
