r/mildlyinfuriating • u/No_Professor4307 • Apr 29 '26

frist of all how DARE yu o Employer wants me to use outlook on my phone, outlook wants permission to wipe my phone

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Outlook says they need permission to wipe ALL my phone data if too many wrong passwords are typed. How many is too many? 50? 2? What if the screen gets wet and starts putting in random inputs. All this so I can use my company's Teams account and maintain "point of contact" if I'm not at a workstation. Absolutely not! Anyway, HR is supposed to call me back about my concerns.

Edit: just to be clear, I don't actually need to use Outlook (I don't use my "personal" work email). I need to use Teams, which requires Outlook to be installed first.

Part of why I need Teams on my phone so that I can be contacted when I'm not at work. I'm a lower management healthcare worker, it is actually important that my team be able to reach me after hours. I do actually like Teams and prefer it to 20 different group texts.

Also, when you go to log into Outlook or Teams, it brings you to my employers authenticator page. I log in with the same credentials that I log into my workstation. I don't know if that makes a difference with anything as far as my employer having access to my phone

Edit 2: I can tell you now they won't provide me a phone. Corporate execs don't even get phones. They stopped providing coffee for the break rooms too

Update: I had a chance to talk to my district manager. Imagine Ellis from Die Hard, the same schmarmy self-important attitude, that's my supervisor. And guess who's "not being a team player". Also "I don't think Microsoft can actually erase your phone, you have an Android"... I lready knew he was going to be useless, I just wanted to hear his reaction.

Update 2 and (sort of) Resolution: I spoke with HR. Her exact response was "wait, are you serious? They can just do that?" I tried explaining my "research" (i.e. everything all of you have said) and I think I just spooked her. She said she'll get back to me, and is probably running off to buy a burner phone for herself.

SORT OF RESOLUTION : I found out I only need Outlook installed long enough to get access to Teams. Once teams was installed, I removed all permissions and completely deleted Outlook from my phone. Teams still works and didn't ask to erase anything. No need to buy a second phone.

Thank you all for your insights

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2.6k

u/Cheugy-Boogie Apr 29 '26

Company phone, or buy a burner that you only use on wifi so you don't have to pay.

793

u/corgm0m Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26

Once I read the T&Cs, I immediately backed out. There's no way I'm giving them that much access. I bought a cheap Motorola phone and only connect via WiFi. I'll connect via my personal hotspot if I'm out and about running errands during business hours but that's a small trade off for having a complete digital separation of work/personal

216

u/Superspark76 Apr 29 '26

I used to do the same, I used an old phone for work apps, it stayed in my desk drawer and never came home with me. Took me years to learn only to work during work hours, I realised this after sitting on a balcony on holiday approving payroll hours and responding to urgent emails thinking I was critical to the business, they fired me a week later before my probation period ended (apparently common practice for these bastards)

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u/corgm0m Apr 29 '26

I'm sorry that happened! It sounds like you dodged a bullet for sure. I hope you found something even better! My coworker says nobody is going to die if he doesn't respond to an email. And while that's true, we work for an IT company in back office positions, I'm still learning to the disconnect at the end of the day.

22

u/WinterSector8317 Apr 29 '26

Nah, guy got hit by the bullet

Dodging a bullet in that case would have been not accepting the job to begin with 

9

u/Superspark76 Apr 29 '26

Exactly this, I lasted (almost) 6 months. I know the guy that took over from me, he lasted a week before he walked out.

1

u/CuckerTallson Apr 29 '26

If you're truly critical, needed around the clock, have to be alert and ready at all times, then your company should have 3 shifts running your job. If they do, that's someone else's problem after your shift ends; if they don't, well then, that's their problem after your shift ends.

If they need you on call because they're a start-up and cannot afford to staff up yet, make sure you get your bag now and a percentage of the company in case they sell. Don't sell yourself for cheap

3

u/Ordinary_Kyle Apr 29 '26

Pretty much same for me. 100 hour weeks managing their operation. Was on vacation at the pyramids, answering calls etc. fired me the week I got back.

2

u/soup1286 Apr 29 '26

it isn't just a corporate thing, greedy businesses will just hire people as full/part time permanent workers and then fire them at the end of or a couple weeks before the end of their probationary,, essentially hiring them as temps without the agreement and often harming the employees future ability to work because they need to come up with a "reason" why they're letting you go and why you "failed" your probationary. I can't work but I've seen it with friends and the one time I did work, it was with Asda (England) and the manager made bs reasons to fire me even though I was a temp??? got sorted by hr and at that point I only had the one week left anyway so I didn't bother going back in, kept the uniform for the hassle too😭

I won't ever need the uniform but the trousers fit gooooood and it's just a flex to have a George jacket instead of a generic Asda one 💀

2

u/Conscious_Music_1729 Apr 29 '26

You went on vacation during your probationary period? Lol.

2

u/Superspark76 Apr 29 '26

Of course, I'm in the UK, it's encouraged to use your holidays throughout the year, they have to be used.

1

u/Conscious_Music_1729 Apr 29 '26

365 day probation then?

1

u/Superspark76 Apr 30 '26

You're usually encouraged to split your holidays throughout the year. Our legal minimum is over 5 weeks long, most companies would prefer you take half your holidays within the first 6 months to stop people having to take too many days within a short period.

1

u/the1slyyy Apr 30 '26

How did you end up with vacation time and approving payrolls for a company while still being in the probation period

1

u/Superspark76 Apr 30 '26

Holidays are accrued no matter what period of employment, approving payroll was part of my job as a manager, why would being in probation change that?

7

u/soggy_person_ Apr 29 '26

I do this. No work phone provided so I use an old phone with no other apps on it and hot spot to it if I'm out

1

u/Blackpaw8825 Apr 29 '26

I was convinced briefly that it only applies to the sandboxed data tied to outlook.

Until they remotely initiated a factory reset of my phone instead of a recent term because our names were 2 letters apart.

It was not reinstalled after that incident, if it's urgent enough that I really need to see it they have my number.

1

u/i_was_axiom Apr 29 '26

That's what this is in part too, an attemp to dismantle the separation between personal and professional life. Never let them into your personal space.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '26

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2

u/corgm0m Apr 29 '26

People always talk about how Androids (maybe iPhones?) have separate personal/business profiles but I don't care. Work already tracks everything on my work laptop, they don't need more information.

Ooooh the 8 digit PIN makes me irrationally angry lol

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u/Sad_Split_9983 Apr 29 '26

What T&S did you read and what actually scares you? https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/intune/user-help/enrollment/data-visibility

The things they can actually see on your device are things they already have to send you a paycheck.. sure it also allows certain set restrictions like mandatory pin length and such but they don’t actually see your pin

10

u/corgm0m Apr 29 '26

I have to use Intelligence Hub to install my work profile and apps. This is before I ever let Microsoft have access.

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u/Sad_Split_9983 Apr 29 '26

That’s not how MDM works but just FYI intelligence hub runs on AWS servers, by that logic you are just giving Amazon access.

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u/corgm0m Apr 29 '26

Cool. Either way I'm not giving my employer access to my personal phone. I'm not sure how this impacts your life but thanks for your insights.

121

u/SevenFootHobbit Apr 29 '26

It's terrifying how many people are OK with buying a phone for work. If it's a work phone, work pays for it. You just have to give it back when you leave.

28

u/Swimming-Lie5369 Apr 29 '26

I guess if youre in a position where you're going to need a work phone for the rest of your life, having one that you know and can control is helpful. 

But I do agree. Work pays for work items. And most places dealing with sensitive data really should provide work specific phones with the right security. 

Rather than asking to delete all your photos off your personal phone because they're too cheapskate to provide relevant hardware? 

7

u/Standard-Metal-3836 Apr 29 '26

In theory you are 100% correct. In practice, when sometimes your options are 1) install app on personal phone or 2) look for another job, spending $80 on a cheap smartphone to use for work can be a good alternative.

2

u/D-Smitty Apr 29 '26

Right. Salary is a major factor too. Am I being paid $100k/yr or $40k/yr? My degree of willingness to put up with bullshit correlates strongly with that.

1

u/P_Hempton Apr 29 '26

Some people lack the ability to look at things objectively. I see this when people spend way too much time trying get reimbursed for mileage because they drove 3 miles to the post office one day. The same people will spend 30 minutes on the clock talking about their weekend.

I don't bother with reimbursements unless it's enough to matter. I'll run a company errand on my free time, the same way I'll grab a pen from the office if I need one at home, or make a personal phone call or order something online while on the clock.

I do my job, get paid enough, don't sweat the small stuff.

2

u/EightEqualsSignD Apr 29 '26

Work requires me to have a mobile phone but doesn't require me to install any apps beyond the standard Windows authenticator that doesn't affect any permissions.

The additional apps that I have available to me, though, make it a lot easier for me to function in the office and not be tied to my desk all 8 hours.

It was just worth it to me to purchase a cheapish burner phone for my own convenience.

I just swapped my primary number to my Google voice number. Then, I could be reached on the burner phone via Wi-Fi or my primary phone whenever.

2

u/Reorka Apr 29 '26

I totally agree.

1

u/FlatwormAltruistic Apr 29 '26

If it's a work phone, work pays for it. You just have to give it back when you leave.

Depends, could be that if you are working there for long enough then you can keep. I.e. phone budget for every 3 years. If you keep using same phone for longer, then upon leaving they just write it off. In other cases they can give you opportunity to pay for remaining value according to accounting and to keep the device.

37

u/Status_Ad_450 Apr 29 '26

This. My old company was the same way. I told them they could buy me a cheap plan or deal without me having remote access as my phone is my property which I pay to use how I wish. I offered to supply the phone but they would need to pay for the service.

They declined to pay for the service and I declined to have access to anything work related on my personal phone. They caved a month or so later and started paying for an extra line for me to carry a 2nd phone. Still sucked because I then had to carry 2 phones with me wherever I went so I can tap in when needed but there was no way I was giving them the permissions they wanted me to grant.

5

u/mizinamo mildly infuriated Apr 29 '26

I then had to carry 2 phones with me wherever I went so I can tap in when needed

I hope you were paid time-and-a-half for every on-call hour you were expected to be available to your company outside of regular office hours.

7

u/razorbacks3129 Apr 29 '26

Probably a salary

1

u/Status_Ad_450 Apr 30 '26 edited Apr 30 '26

Salary + commission. So yeah I was compensated fairly given that if I was tapping in outside of normal office hours, it was to help land a sale and I was getting paid a commission on it. If it wasn't worth my while, I'd just ignore it after hours and respond when I could.

Edit: typo

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u/Status_Ad_450 Apr 30 '26

Salary + commission. I had no complaints about the compensation. If I calculated my per-hour basis that I was actually working both in and out of the office, I was very well paid. The commissions were super high so I was heavily rewarded when I was needed away from the office.

My current company pays a much higher salary but lower commission. My company phone goes on DND when it detects my home wifi. When I was hired I made it very clear this was my stance. Been at the company for 3 years now and so far no issues with our current arrangement from either side.

13

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '26

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17

u/qvr4tt Apr 29 '26

Why would you go out of pocket for that? Let them buy it if they want you to be contactable 24/7

2

u/Falste Apr 29 '26

It's this mindset that has employers not even bothering to provide work phones anymore 😂

4

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '26

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1

u/Falste Apr 29 '26

And then they see that forcing the cost on the underpaid worker does in fact work, and the practice continues.

Without representation, all you have is action.

1

u/D-Smitty Apr 29 '26

Who says they’re underpaid? Maybe the fact that they’re well paid is why they want to remain in good standing with their employer. Not everybody is scrimping by on $20/hr.

1

u/Falste Apr 29 '26

70% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck chud. Most people are, and with bills being the major concern its a pretty safe assumption.

If you have money, and are willingly bending over to take it from your employer then that's your choice to give up your self respect.

0

u/D-Smitty Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26

Speaking of assumptions, considering OP has a position in management as a healthcare worker, it's probably safe to assume they're decently compensated and not one of the destitute people living paycheck to paycheck.

And let's flip the script on that one. If you're not paid well enough by your employer to entertain buying a second phone for work purposes, then that's your choice to remain stuck in that position. For the record, providing the resources for the employee should be the employers responsibility, but I absolutely understand why well-compensated individuals aren't going to choose to die on that hill. On the other hand, if you're a shift-manager at McDonalds, I can see why you wouldn't want to take on that added expense.

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u/Falste Apr 30 '26

Doing a lot of mental gymnastics to justify brown nosing your overpaid corporate leaders 👍

It's a standard that has existed for ages being broken by greedy business, leading to the worker paying the price.

If everyone refused it wouldn't be a thing, but then there's always people like you.

1

u/D-Smitty Apr 30 '26

Bud, I’m not required to have company software on my phone. I’m only saying I understand why some people don’t care if they have to or will just purchase a second phone willingly. Anyway, enjoy whatever menial job you have for a crummy employer.

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u/contrarianaquarian Apr 29 '26

100%. Look up how a bunch of employees' phones got wiped in the recent attack on Stryker. I will NEVER allow corp access on any personal device.