Sending an employee on an errand? Or have an overzealous outside sales person on board?
Sending one of your employees across town to pick up those company brochures from the print shop might not be as great an idea as you might think. If that employee is involved in an auto accident, an injured party could come after your business for compensation.

There are several potential legal hot spots that businesses can easily overlook because such concerns may seem trivial.

• Cell Phones or PDA devices with email and Texting

  It is common practice for businesses to equip their employees with a company cell phone so that clients or other employees can reach them when they are away from the office. It seems to make good business sense, and overall efficiency is increased, which is good news to any employer. Cell phones are now proven to be the majority of caused accidents.

• Pagers

  Although pagers might be viewed as less distracting to the user than cell phones, they still can create legal waves for a company

• Non-Designated Drivers

  Most companies painstakingly investigate and insure their on-the-job drivers, such as delivery people and truck drivers, but they usually overlook the small errands for which they sometimes send non-insured employees, such as office workers.

What can companies do to protect themselves?

• Set employee policies regarding employees not using the cell phone or PDA’s while driving.
• Provide cellular phones and pagers only for essential personnel.
• Before giving an employee an assignment that requires driving, make sure they have a valid driver’s license.
• Better yet, keep employees in their hired roles. If they were hired for office work, keep them there. Let the company drivers do the driving.

– Brad Arnett