Employers should be upfront about equipment and requirements before someone starts a new job.

The following story involves an employee who was asked on his first day to use his personal phone for work authentication.

He was uncomfortable with the idea, so he asked for an alternative or a company-provided phone, but IT and HR refused.

The situation escalated when HR suggested the job might not be a good fit and almost fired him for not agreeing.

Yikes! What a miserable first day at work! Read the full story below for all the details.

Almost fired over company needing to use my phone

Just got a new job in ND. Today was actually my first day.

I get in, get the tour, meet the team, and the first thing I do is meet with IT to set up my computer.

Pretty normal stuff. First thing IT says is, “We’ll need you to download an app.

And use your personal cell number for an authenticator that you’ll use to log into everything.”

This was never mentioned in the job description nor during the interview process.

This employee expressed his discomfort about using his personal phone for an authenticator.

I said, “I’m not comfortable using my personal device for work. Is there an alternative?”

I was told by IT, no. A phone must be used. I said I’m still not comfortable using mine.

Can the company provide me a phone or compensate me for the use of mine?

Forty minutes later, after not being able to set up anything, my new manager hands me their phone and says:

“HR is on the phone for you.” HR says there is no other way than a phone app.

HR told him he won’t be given a company phone for this.

They will NOT be providing a cell phone as I work on location.

Then, they say, “If this is happening now, maybe this isn’t a good fit and we should part ways here.”

I haven’t even worked there for two hours yet.

They’d rather lose a brand new employee than find a workaround or give me a phone.

I didn’t know what to say. I said, “I just left a job to work here.

And now you are wanting to fire me because I don’t want to use my phone for work purposes.”

They eventually agreed to give him a small monthly stipend.

“We aren’t firing you. You just don’t seem like a good fit.”

They said a version of “maybe we should just let you go” a few more times.

Then eventually mentioned that they would agree to a $2.5 dollar stipend a month for the “minimal” use of my phone that will happen.

I could take it or leave it, but they will need a for-sure yes or no to this arrangement.

Because they don’t want to have this conversation again in the future and will not accept a maybe.

HE was left shocked and hurt by what happened on his first day at work.

After a little more stunned silence, I agreed. What choice did I have?

I continued my first day until the end.

But I’m left shocked, hurt, and frustrated that they can even treat a new employee like that over my own phone.

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Wow! That was unnecessarily harsh.

I agree with OP that if the phone is required for work, then the company should provide an alternative or fairly compensate him.

The $2.50 monthly stipend also makes the whole situation feel even more frustrating.

Let’s find out what others have to say about this.

This user shares their personal thoughts.

Uh oh! Short and honest.

This one gets a bigger stipend.

Someone who works in IT speaks up.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a longtime bank customer who walked away after the teller gave them a hard time.

Finally, another one chimes in.

Nothing says “welcome to the team” like almost getting fired before lunch.