Cellphone Policies

[McDreidel09]

I saw the discussion on cs about cell phone policies in the workplace. Thought this would be a great topic.

In most work places, if one is caught with a cellphone, they could have it taken away during a shift.

Is this crossing the line, especially for adults?

My opinion:

I don't believe they should take it away. They should make the person put it away in their purse (or if they don't have a purse, see if someone else will keep it in their purse). If you are going to have a cellphone on you and insist on texting, do it discreetly.

Me, I keep it in my pocket because most of the time, my younger sister is home alone and I'm the closest one if something happens. Most managers are nice enough to let me have it on my person for that reason.

And talking about that, would it be reasonable to allow cellphones if they were used for that reason only, say if someone's child (or in my case,younger sibling) got sick or something tragic happened?

[Greenday]

Since I work at a military base, cell phones are strictly off-limits. No cell phones at all are supposed to be allowed in offices as people could try to take pictures of classified materials while at work. It makes sense. And since we all have phones at our desks, with our own specific phone numbers, we could just get calls from them.

I still have my cell phone on anyway. I leave it on vibrate so it doesn't make noise and I don't use it when important people are around. Most of my co-workers have cell phones on them anyway too.

[Boozy]

I don't think a company has the right to confiscate an employee's property. But they do have the right to ban cell phones at work, especially if they allow the staff to provide the store's number to their families for emergencies.

So if an employee is caught with a phone on the sales floor, they should be instructed to store it in their locker or car during their working hours. If a company won't allow personal effects such as cells on an employee's person at work, then they need to provide lockers free of charge.

My company has banned personal reading material in their store fronts. Except if I walk to work, there's nowhere else for me to keep my novel that I want to read during my lunch break. We have no back room or staff room. So I told them to provide a storage place for the staff, or deal with the fact that my lunch, my book, and my cell will be sitting under the till while I work. They eventually came to see it my way.

[kiwi]

At all of the retail jobs I have worked at there are no cellphones allowed on the floor.

I can bring my cellphone to work and use it on my break. Anyone who was caught with a cellphone was made to put it back in their locker/bag.

I think a company needs to provide a secure place for personal belongings (safe from other staff as well) if they dont want stuff on the floor.

[katie kaboom]

Since I work at a military base, cell phones are strictly off-limits.

My fiance works at a fort in New Jersey, and he has his cell phone on him everyday at work. He goes outside to use it though. The only time I can think of that he's had to turn it over to someone else was when he went to The Pentagon, which is understandable.

[AdminAssistant]

At my old retail store, cell phones were banned on the floor, as they should be. If you have a potential emergency situation, give them the store's phone #.

I wish I could take cell phones away from my students. So many think it's perfectly acceptable to text away or even take calls during class. Absolutely ridiculous. They text during plays, too. Seriously, disconnect yourself from the virtual world for 2 freakin' hours!! There is nothing so important that you could say in a text message that can't wait 2 hours.

Oh, and vibrate =/= silent. One of my pet peeves. A vibrating phone is just as irritating as a ringing one.

[Greenday]

My fiance works at a fort in New Jersey, and he has his cell phone on him everyday at work. He goes outside to use it though. The only time I can think of that he's had to turn it over to someone else was when he went to The Pentagon, which is understandable.

Yea, if you are caught with a cell phone at work, you are in DEEP, deep shit.

[katie kaboom]

If you have a potential emergency situation, give them the store's phone #.

That's all well and good, if you can trust the store to actually give you the message in an emergency. But what if in the hustle and bustle of a busy day, somehow the phone call gets overlooked?

I'm sorry, but work is not a prison, and therefore employees should not be cut off from the outside world. We're human beings and we have a right to be easily accesible in the event of a loved one's emergency.

[Teysa]

A while back we got a memo with our paychecks saying that we had to ask a manager for permission to make any outside calls and cell phones were absolutely positively not allowed on the sales floor. I think that lasted all of two weeks if that long.

[Evandril]

Personally, if my family has an emergency, I want them to be able to reach me *NOW*, not when the phone tag of trying to track me finally manages to figure out where I am...If they bother.

[MannersMakethMan]

Would it be crossing the line for adults? Yes, but too many people don't use their phone like adults. I'd get wholeheartedly behind everyone having an emergency phone on them at work, but as soon as you stop using it for the intended purpose, it becomes a distraction that the management should have a reasonable expectation of being able to remove.

The point is that it's for emergencies, not for deciding what colour to whitewash your cat. If you're not grown up enough to see that, then you shouldn't be having a phone at work at all. If your personal calls are distracting you from your job, which is after all why you're there, you should lose the right to have one on you.

[pile of monkeys]

I think that family members were perfectly capable of getting ahold of employees during working hours before cell phones were in use (call the store, let the person who answers know it's an emergency, employee is quickly found and takes the call). Everyone who has a job also has a life outside the job, and it's easier to "ban" the unprofessional behavior (cell phone use on the clock), than try to prioritize who may possibly be likely to have a more important emergency. I find employees who text or, more unbelievably, take or make cell phone calls while on the clock and not in employee-only areas should be punished. Taking the phone away is a sort of lame response though. Make the employee stash it with their belongings, and write them up if it's against policy.

I will admit that at my job, I'm the minority view on cell phone usage. Most employees see nothing wrong with texting while in full view of clients. I think it's incredibly unprofessional.

[powerboy]

That's all well and good, if you can trust the store to actually give you the message in an emergency. But what if in the hustle and bustle of a busy day, somehow the phone call gets overlooked?

I'm sorry, but work is not a prison, and therefore employees should not be cut off from the outside world. We're human beings and we have a right to be easily accesible in the event of a loved one's emergency.

Exactly. If you want to take away someones cell phone, then better give it back on their break or after work. Otherwise, put up a sign stating that cells are not to be used on the floor and only on breaks.

Half the times, you cannot trust stores to locate the person in time that has to answer the emergency call.

[DesignFox]

I think that family members were perfectly capable of getting ahold of employees during working hours before cell phones were in use (call the store, let the person who answers know it's an emergency, employee is quickly found and takes the call). <snip>

End of story.

Before cell phones were invented, there were plenty of ways for people to get a hold of each other during emergencies.

I say, deal with it.

This is why people have no sense of responsibility for themselves, anymore. This is also the reason people are so rude and self absorbed. Disconnect yourself for a few hours. It won't kill you, and I guarantee you it won't kill your family members, either. There is a reason you provide multiple contacts in case of emergency.

Remember back in the day when you gave the babysitter the number to the restaurant? Well, get back to it! What if your service goes out? You gonna sue the cell phone company because there was no service in the building and the babysitter couldn't reach you to tell you Suzie fell down the stairs?

And on another note, if someone needs you, they can find you. If you forget to give someone a number there's a big yellow thing called a phone book, a special service called "directory assistance" and a wonderful new tool called the internet to look up phone numbers with.

I never gave my dad my work number when I worked in the mall- I was not allowed to have my cellphone on the sales floor, and when we had an emergency he magically located our store's number and managed to get in touch with me- really- nothing tragic happened.

I'm very sorry if this sounds sarcastic, but it hits a very sour note with me. The only reason people need their cell phones so badly is because they are a convenience; everyone refuses to go without them.

I went 17 years of my life without one. I didn't die in a tragedy because my parents couldn't track me 24/7. The babysitter always knew where to get a hold of my parents, a neighbor or another responsible adult. And when I babysat other people's kids, the same applied.

On the bright side, in a tanking US economy, at least being a cell phone sales drone is still profitable.....

Lastly, on the one hand, I can almost understand where the more responsible phone users stand...but let's face it.

No matter how responsible you are, it IS a distraction. Unless you only use that phone for emergency- meaning, literally 1 or 2 people have your number and there is absolutely no other reason in the world that phone will ever go off...you will be checking it every time it rings or buzzes or beeps or lights up. Each time you glance in your pocket, you are taking your attention away from your work, your dinner, your movie or your friend.

Put the phone AWAY!

I'll stop ranting now.

[katie kaboom]

I think that family members were perfectly capable of getting ahold of employees during working hours before cell phones were in use (call the store, let the person who answers know it's an emergency, employee is quickly found and takes the call)

The world is much more dangerous than it was before cell phones. The scenario you described isn't always realistic. If it was, this wouldn't even be an issue. But since it isn't, i'm sorry, but people have a right to have their cell phone on them while they work. Don't punish the responsible people just because other people are fuck-ups.