The New Social Worker Vol. 20, No. 2, Spring 2013 | Page 6

Ethics Alive!
A Text in the Night
by Allan Barsky, JD, MSW, Ph.D.
Jace is a social work student interning at an
agency that serves recent retirees. In an effort
to reduce costs and maintain services, the
agency cuts its use of landline telephones and
asks workers and students to use their cell
phones. Jace does not think it is appropriate
for the agency to ask students to use their personal cell phones for work purposes. Still, she
agrees because everyone at the agency seems to
be complying without raising much of a fuss.
One night, around 3 a.m., Jace is awakened
by her cell phone. She picks it up and sees a
text message from a client, Ramon. The message says, “My life is worthless. Nobody cares
about me. I’m going to end it all.” Jace feels
panic and wonders what to do. If she does not
respond, Ramon may commit suicide, and Jace
will have foregone any chance to save his life.
If she does respond, will she be able to do so
in a competent manner, without the benefit of
supervision? If she takes time to contact her

new forms of communication technology
without providing workers with sufficient
ethical guidance and training. Workers,
including new social workers, may need
to raise concerns with their supervisors
and administrators in order to pre-empt
the type of situation faced by Jace.

When an employer asks social workers to use personal cell phones for work
purposes, a number of legal and ethical
concerns arise:
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supervisor for advice, how will her supervisor
react to being woken up in the middle of the
night? How might the delay in contacting the
client affect the risk that Ramon will commit
suicide? Jace thinks about calling 911, but
wonders if she should call Ramon first to see if
she can handle the situation without breaching his confidentiality.
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lthough the names and other
facts of this case are fictional, it
is based on actual situations. As
the use of cell phones, e-mail, texting,
social networking, and other technology
grows, social workers are facing many
challenges about the appropriate use and
limits on use of such technologies. Unfortunately, many agencies are embracing

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The New Social Worker

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Does an employer have a right to
ask social workers to use personal
cell phones for work purposes, and
if so, does state law require employers pay workers for use of their cell
phones?
Is an employer allowed to require
social workers to answer phone calls
or texts outside of business hours
(including after work, or while the
worker is on vacation)?
If a social worker responds to a client’s call or text outside of regular
working hours, is the agency legally
and ethically responsible for the
worker’s conduct (e.g., responsible
to pay the worker for her time,
responsible for providing supervision, and legally accountable for any
malpractice that may occur)?
If a social worker does not respond
to a client’s call or text outside of
work hours, is the social worker
liable for malpractice or state licensing sanctions?
When answering a cell phone, what
steps should the social worker take
to ensure confidentiality is maintained throughout the call?

As with many legal and ethical
questions, the answers depend on the
particular situation, including the general
employment laws of the state and any
regulatory provisions for the agency and
social worker. Let us first focus on the
ideal. If an agency expects social workers
to use cell phones (or other technology)
to communicate with clients, then the
agency should provide the technology.

Spring 2013

As a matter of fairness (if not a matter of
law), employers should pay for the tools
that employees require in order to fulfill
their work obligations.

For social workers, another concern
is professional boundaries. The NASW
Code of Ethics (COE, 106(c)) states that social workers should maintain appropriate
boundaries with clients. Providing clients
with the worker’s personal cell phone
number might violate such boundaries.
Ordinarily, social workers make themselves available to clients during regular
work hours. If clients have emergencies
outside such hours, then the client should
be directed to emergency services (e.g.,
911 or a crisis center). Ramon, faced with
a crisis in the middle of the night, made
use of Jace’s cell phone because it was
available. If Jace and the agency had set
clearer boundaries, then Ramon might
have used more appropriate services.

Unfortunately, many (or all) of us
are not living in the ideal world. What if
we have an employer who asks us to use
personal cell phones for work purposes?
Actually, I am in exactly this situation.
I am a professor, and my university has
asked professors to relinquish our landline phones to help address the budget
cuts. If students want to contact me,
they may e-mail, or they may contact a
secretary who will e-mail me. If I want
students to call me directly, I need to use
my personal cell phone. I could refuse to
use my cell phone for work purposes, but
for now, I have decided that I will use it.
Providing students with my cell phone
number is useful to them and me. The
cell phone provides students with easier
access than the alternatives, and allows
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