Dispatch calling your personal cell

[Carlos Danger]

As a W-2 employee, you can only deduct your cell phone bill if it's use for work is a condition of your employment, and you can only deduct that portion that amounts to greater than 2% of your adjusted gross income. If you normally just take the standard deduction, the amount of money you save by itemizing just to deduct your cell phone bill is probably much more hassle than it is worth.

 

[joshrunkle35]

Are cell phone "minutes" even a thing anymore? Everyone I know gets unlimited texts and phone calls and just pays for data. Maybe it's time to update your phone plan?

 

[DrParasite]

As a W-2 employee, you can only deduct your cell phone bill if it's use for work is a condition of your employment, and you can only deduct that portion that amounts to greater than 2% of your adjusted gross income. If you normally just take the standard deduction, the amount of money you save by itemizing just to deduct your cell phone bill is probably much more hassle than it is worth.

If I'm not mistaken, you can only deduct any overage caused by your work. So if you have 100 minutes, and conversations with your employer make you go over and you use 150 minutes, you can deduct the expense of the overages.

That might have changed over the past few years, ask a CPA for actual tax advice.

I don't care if dispatch calls me on my personal phone. As long as it doesn't cost me anything, it doesn't bother me. If I have a work issued phone, I'd prefer they call that first, but if they need to get a hold of me, call my personal cell.

The only exception is to fill an open shift. I don't want anyone to call me for an open shift. email me, text me, I don't care, but after 5 years of working the night shift, I don't need any phone calls for shift coverage, especially after I worked the night before, or if I'm working that night.

To the OP, why would you not want them to call you? Most people don't have prepaid phones, and if dispatch is calling you on a routine basis because your radio system dies, than your agency needs to issue you a work related phone, or come up with a better solution than dispatch call you.

 

[Brandon O]

To the OP, why would you not want them to call you?

Oh, I don't care. Just curious what others thought.

 

[Meursault]

I'd rather have them call me if they can't raise me on the radio/CAD than find out ten minutes later that they've been sitting on an emergency. The only coworkers I know that complain about it are people that want to dodge calls and that one guy that just has to be a stubborn prick about everything (he brought up the "limited minutes" thing once, too).
We're not issued cell phones, and portable radio reception is... spotty, so I use my phone for communication a lot.

 

[Aprz]

I think it is pretty reasonable. They've tried exhausting other resources like saying your unit ID over the radio multiple times, toning you, sending a page to your pager, and any other mean possible.

We are issued cells phones at the start of shift, but I don't think the dispatchers have the number for it. The cell phones are used to call some hospitals, call dispatch, or call a supervisor. I usually call dispatch on my personal cell phone. I don't know if record the number without telling us. I've never been called on my personal phone or the phone we are issued at the start of shift.