Taking Business Laptop Home

[andrew1707]

Hello,
My Employer has just told all my team members that henceforth we will be required to take our Laptops home every night as part of the Business Continuity Plan. The plan being if the office burns down we can work from home.

There has been no provision for any internet connection from our homes (it is expected that they can use our personal broadband for free) and there has been no mention of any payment for our inclusion in this.

I don't really want to be taking my laptop home every night. I am not even allowed to leave it in the car whilst I pop to the shop on my way home.

What is the AB community's thoughts on this.

Thanks

Andrew

[muchlovex]

The way I see it is be thankful that you're in a job.

[hc4361]

Who will insure it when it is out of the office? You need to make sure the company will insure the laptop at all times for loss, damage, theft.

[Old_Geezer]

My employer wants us all to use laptops too. Dislike them intensely. I am able to use my desktop until they decide to take it away. No I wasn't given special broadband either, have to use my own. That said the company can provide broadband at a decent price if I want to agree to all the conditions.

I think it is getting more common. For my part because I have a desktop, after lugging the laptop in every day for a couple of weeks doing my back/shoulder in I realised I hardly used it, and it stays at home now. I can bring it in if needed.

I can see it benefits the company but I don't approve of the imposition. Bad enough if it were in place before one was employed, a right cheek to impose it afterwards. But I think you may have to live with it. The way things are gonig the boundary between personal space/time and work are getting blurred.

[Old_Geezer]

An employer should be thankful they have you in the job.

[rockyracoon]

I'd ask them about insurance as well, what if you're burgled, are you expected to claim from your household policy?

[boxtops]

My work laptop lives at home - remote working is recommended in our place, as there are not enough desks for us all. We were given work dongles for those of us who don't have wifi, so we can still access the internet, and tokens to be able to sign into the server.

Do you need your laptop in the day? If not, just leave it at home.

[boxtops]

and PS I have to take it to work once a month, to plug it direct into the server for updates etc

[RATTER15]

How can they insist on this? once your time 5.00pm or whenever you leave work, surely you are no longer answerable to them or their equipment or the security of their equipment in your own free time.

[boxtops]

It frees people up to work from home though, ratter - if you can't get in, e.g. due to snow, then you can still work. I love it.

[mccfluff]

we do this here as well

check the insurance angle and also ask about how you are supposed to connect from home - we provide dongles if requested but most staff are happy to use their own broadband

[Barmaid]

If you are taking your laptop offsite, your company really ought to ensure that you have encryption software on it to protect sensitive data or personal data. There are also insurance issues. If you get burgled and the laptop is stolen a) will it be covered by your house insurance and b) what will your liability, if any be?

Wouldn't a more sensible thing to invest in is some type of cloud based server that keeps ALL data backed up offsite?

I think they are creating a bigger problem in order to solve a smaller one.

[RATTER15]

I agree Boxy, it really does depend on the type of work we do. I would just be very aware of responsibilities in case it was stolen or broken, who is responsible for the replacement?

[andrew1707]

Thanks for all the sensible answers.

Insurance: hadn't thought of that angle; I will investigate

The laptop is my day to day work computer.
The company want us to take them home not to protect the data held on the laptop but so we can still access the internal network from home and carry on supporting our clients. The loss of the building would not affect our ability to connect as our data centre is situated elsewhere.

[humbersloop]

I'm a bit confused by this as a "business continuity" plan if the firm's server's on site - if so, presumably the server goes up in smoke with everything else. What use would the laptops be anyway in that event?

[humbersloop]

cross post andrew.

[pinkyboyid]

Well I hope they recognise the potential security implications, if nothing else! And of course the Company Security Policy Document will reflect this and is totally in line with ISO27001 & 27002 security standards wont it?

In my experience most probably not! e.g. lots of open personal data held on individuals laptop in unencrypted form unless managed and regulated correctly.

If they want this they should pay for it. If they are serious about Business Continuity the minimum they should offer is some renumeration package to pay towards your Internet line, whilst working from home, assuming it is a necessity for carrying out work form home.

You may also want to check out if there are any insurance implications e.g. does the company pension / insurance scheme cover for fatality if working from home like Lump sum payouts in event of death etc.

[wolf63]

If you are working for a large company (I believe that you are) has this idea been implemented elsewhere in your organisation?

If your home broadband had download limits surely using this work laptop at home would impact on that.

Is the work on your laptop loaded onto a server or is all your work in the laptop? Is the data in the laptop important to anyone other than you - could it be used and abused?

Susan x

[andrew1707]

The laptop doesn't hold sensitive data and the data it does hold is completely encrypted.

a

[bednobs]

just tell them you don't have broadband.

[craft1948]

I was asked to do this in my last job and never found it to be a problem, I also found it gave me more flexible working, in the end I worked from home full-time, except for business meetings in London.