How Can You Define The Need For An Employee Equipment Agreement?

If you own a business with some employee, you must be aware that a business frequently sees ups and downs which can be any form. A business has to face ongoing challenges which are really tough to manage.

Among the other challenges, one is the use of the company’s equipment when the employees are either working remotely or working from home. A company should have the right policies, guidelines, and documents and this should not be overlooked at any cost.

How does this help? It builds up an implicit level of loyalty, honesty, and mutual trust between a business and an employee. When a company or business allows employees to work remotely and use the business property to perform their duties. But in some cases, the trust and honesty get ruined by the employees.

What is the responsibility of the employer?

When your company is giving any equipment and tools to an employee to perform their tasks, it is the duty of the employer to set the policies for the correct use of the items. They also need to make sure that the employee carefully reads, understands, and agrees to the described terms of use. 

The policies should contain detailed instructions related to a remote employee returning equipment and tools. It should also contain the instructions for taking care and handling of tools. Make sure that you are clear on your expectations related to the actions that need to be taken in case the equipment gets damaged, misused, or lost.

Responsibility of the employee 

Apart from the responsibility of the employer, the employee needs to maintain and keep a check on the equipment or tools that have been provided to them by the employer. The employee should return the equipment, vehicles, and tools that are administered by the employer.

When the business starts onsite working, they will surely be in need of the loaned items to ease the remote working process. So, it is the job of an employee to do the same for the sake of the company.

How can you support the employees when they return office equipment?

Do you know that your organization can earn by supporting the employees who are returning the office equipment?

Businesses and companies should take advantage of renting out their used office equipment. The equipment could be laptops, computers, or printers. This will help a company in reducing the cost of buying new equipment for its employees.

When an employee is leaving the company, he/she will return all the office equipment. But it’s not good to just leave them unused and gather dust somewhere on the company premises.

The company will get a chance to earn some extra income by renting it out. That can be put to use for other businesses! In case of heavy items, the company can arrange some sort of arrangement that needs to be made by the company for making the process smooth for the employee.

What if the employee doesn’t return the property? 

What if an employee doesn’t return the equipment to the company? The company can take legal action in case the employees refuse to return the property. This will totally depend on the paper trail which includes the following things:

• If the employee has signed an agreement for the care and return of the company’s equipment
  
• If the business has policies associated with the use, care, and return of the equipment. It can be mobile phones, laptops, office furniture, and any other kind of equipment 
• If the company has any policy which sets out the suggestions of returning equipment. It can be a case of  damage or loss by the person

You sent an employee on a business trip and provided him with a laptop, a mobile, and some other equipment. The person used the laptop to complete his job and the employee had agreed to take complete care of it while on the business trip.

However, he forget the laptop in a hotel room after finishing the work. Now my company wants to know what happens next. The employee should have agreed to the responsibility for the equipment that is provided by the company when traveling to the official business.

What are the consequences? 

What if the employee couldn’t return the company property at the end of their employment? The employer should keep a strict check on the employee equipment agreement to check if there is any return clause mentioned associated with the company’s property. If so, then the employer can make a deduction from the final salary of the employee in the event of such a case. 

The salary of the employee that goes deducted will cover the cost of the lost or damaged property. This is only if any clause given in the contract is present. It should have the signature of the employee which will be consent to make the required deduction.