KOUKAMMA MUNICIPAT,ITY 1-I. -t..-:#j.=2. .%'fl * 9# AM TELEPHONE USAGE POLICY FOR EMPLOYEES REVISION 2 FEBRUARY 2009

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1 KOUKAMMA MUNICIPAT,ITY -t..-:#j.=2 1-I..%'fl * 9# AM TELEPHONE USAGE POLICY FOR EMPLOYEES REVISION 2 FEBRUARY 2009

2 KOUKAMMA LOCAL MUNICIPALITY TELEPHONE USAGE POLICY FOR EMPLOYEES 1 DEFINITIONS For the purpose of this policy - "Council" shall mean the Council of the Koukamma Local Municipality, any committee or person to which or to whom an instruction has been given or any power has been delegated or sub-delegated in terms of, or as contemplated in, section 59 of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000 or a service provider in respect of any power, function or duty of the Council. Employee" means any person who works for the Council and as such is entitled to remuneration. Municipal manager" means the person appointed by the Municipal Council as the Municipal Manager for the Municipality in terms of section 82 of the Local Government Municipal Structures Act, 1998 (Act No. 117 of 1998 ) and includes any person: (i) acting in such position; and (ii) to whom the Municipal Manager has delegated a power, function or duty in respect of such a delegated power, function or duty. 2 PURPOSE OF THE POLICY The purpose of the policy shall be as follows: (a) To ensure the effective and efficient use of Municipal telephones; (b) To reduce escalating costs of Koukamma telephones, resulting from the abuse by employees (C) To reduce time spent by officials making private calls versus business oriented calls (d) To curb the abuse of Municipal telephones by employees of the Council; (e) To prevent unauthorised persons from using Municipal telephones. (f) to introduce corrective action measures for officials who fail to observe the guidelines stipulated in the policy (g) To standardise what may be allowed as being reasonable calls that may be made for private purposes Februarv

3 (h) To enforce salary deductions for council officials for making private calls exceeding Rl.00 per minute. (i) To further investigate cases of fraudulent reporting on calls claiming to be non-private and reprimand employees in terms of Koukamma code of conduct. 3. APPLICATION OF POLICY This policy shall apply to all employees of the Council, regardless of their designation. 4. PROVISION OF TELEPHONE SERVICE (a) It shall be the responsibility of the Council to provide all Municipal offices or a combination of Municipal offices with a satisfactory and reliable telephone service; (b) The Council has a centralized management telephone operating system through which all outgoing and incoming calls are monitored; any employee can be dialed directly without going to switchboard if the client is given the extension. (C) It shall be the responsibility of an individual official to assume all responsibilities of his/her telephone handset and the line that transmit all related communications related to his/her function. 5 TELEPHONE USAGE CONTROL MEASURES (d) The Council determines that all employees have direct telephone lines, all outgoing and incoming for use in connection with the performance of their official duties. (e) A management system that records and monitor incoming and outgoing calls for each extension or direct lines and thus makes it possible to generate monthly reports, is fitted in the office of the administration manager. (f) No staff member shall make international calls except with the specific a approval of the Municipal Manager. (g) No staff member shall make a call on behalf of or allow any unauthorised person to make a telephone call from either a private line or from the switchboard of the council. (h) Employees with direct telephone lines shall be provided with personal access pin numbers which must be used to access an outgoing line via their telephone extension. Febmarv 2(*)9 3

4 (1) In cases where outgoing telephone calls are directed through the switchboard, it shall be the duty of the Receptionist/Telephonist, before dialing the number required, to enquire from the person wishing the call to be made whether the call is official or private in nature. (j) The Receptionist/Telephonist shall record all outgoing calls directed through the switchboard in a Telephone Log Book, indicating the number dialed and purpose of the call, i.e. whether official or private. An example of the Telephone Log Book is appended to this Policy. (k) At the end of each month the administration manager shall print out a telephone report which reflects: Time of calls; Duration and the designation. (1) Computer print-outs reflecting all outgoing calls made from direct telephone extensions during a calendar month and the costs thereof shall be generated by the Administrative Officer on a monthly basis and shall be forwarded to Departmental Head for distribution to employees in their respective departments. (m) All employees shall mark all personal telephone calls made from their telephone extensions; add them together, sign and submit the report to the head of department who will inspect such statements for verification and signature. (n) The signed printouts must be returned to the Finance Department before the 10th of each month to effect deductions for the next payroll run. (0) In the event of an employee failing to return the marked and signed computer print-out to his supervisor, the Finance Department shall be provided with a copy of the unmarked print-out and it shall be construed that all the telephone calls made are of a private nature the employee concerned hereby consents to the deduction of the full amount from the next monthly salary due to him/her. 6. BARRING OF TELEPHONES The Council shall have the discretion to determine which employees with direct dialing facilities shall be allowed to make national, provincial, regional and local calls only and telephones lines shall be suitably barred on the basis of this classification. 7. AVAILIBILITY OF THIS POLICY Every employee assuming appointment in the service of the Council shall be supplied with a copy of this policy and shall acknowledge receipt thereof by signing a duplicate copy thereof. The said duplicate copy shall be filed on the personal file of the employee. Februan, 2()09 4

5 8 CONSEQUENCE OF NON-COMPLIANCE Failure to comply with this telephone usage policy will be viewed as a serious disciplinary transgression and appropriate disciplinary action, which may include the dismissal of the employee concerned, could result from such action. Transgression includes but is not limited to: 042Fraudulent altering of figures in a telephone statement 042Not correctly or honestly marking private calls 042Not submitting the monthly statements on deadline 042Not making arrangements for finance to effect deduction etc The council shall have the discretion to determine where officials who fail to comply with the policy could phone for related official duties as a sanction. This means phoning only for local numbers and the area of jurisdiction as determined by duties and where provincial, national and cellular phone call is required, request from switchboard must be sought, or introduce a speed dial for most business calls. 9 CONTROL PROCEDURES Every head of Department must personally examine telecommunication accounts relating to lines and extensions allocated to employees under their supervision as provided by the finance department before forwarding some to individual employees. He/She shall make relevant comments for attention of information of the relevant employee, or any other employee in the department, which shall where necessary be used as evidence should a disciplinary hearing or such appropriate action need to be taken due to persistent abuse by an employee. Februarv 20()9 5

6 TELEPHONE LOG BOOK MONTH: Date Name of Telephone Name of person/ Phone Number Purpose of Employee Extension Company called call 1 Febmarv