I just had two phones, work issued and mine, after 6pm the work phone went on 'do not disturb' until 9am next day

Ive noticed that work issued phones aren't the perk they appear, its a social pressure of 'we know you have a phone, we gave it to you' combined with the expectation you'll answer.

I was a software engineer at that job, I wasn't on call and I was salaried for X hours.

I still have two phones noe even though I work for myself, one for work one for home, I did think about dual-sim but I like the separation of concerns.

That works, though I'd really rather not carry two phones around. I'd make an appointment with HR first.

For me its not about checking with HR (and even trusting them) its about the complete seperation of work/life devices, I don't want my employer having access to any of my personal data/metadata and using a work phone as a personal phone does that.

As for carrying two phones, I just leave my personal phone in my coat pocket, I don't get a huge volume of calls anyway since people long ago figured out I don't answer them (and I disabled voicemail), if it's urgent text basically.