Cellphone Policies

[SG15Z]

but is everyone really to that point where they have no other way to entertain themselves at work or on their break than to play with their phone? Seriously? Do you not have anyone to talk to face to face? Can you not read a magazine or a book or a newspaper? Am I the only person left on this planet that does NOT have a phone with internet and other cool stuff on it?

Nope the only feature I have is unlimited texting. But I never respond to texts when on the clock. So your not alone.

While I don't agree with the prospect of any employer being able to take away my property, I definitely think you did the right thing. Company policy stated that if the employees are using their phones on the sales floor, they get confiscated for the remainder of their shift, right?

You did everything in your power to avoid having to take the phones away, and the employees still didn't follow policy.

Obviously, being nice and trying to do people a favor by issuing a warning rather than going straight to confiscation and write-ups wasn't working.

So, fuck 'em. They had been warned, they chose to ignore you.

In my opinion, it's a sad world we live in where employees even have to be warned to put their phones away and do their damn jobs.

Yeah that's what's happening. This is actually just the tip of the iceburg. These kids don't listen to any of the FES. Only the CSM. It's like I tell them to do something and they just roll their eyes like "how dare he tell me what to do." This is just one of many issues we FES's are having with the FE employees.

I agree. I have a desk phone yes, plus two other phone numbers I an answer. However if i happen to be somewhere other than my desk and something happens to one of the kids or my b/f or whatever I would want to be reachable at any moment. I have my cell phone out at my desk and so does everyone else.....

Well desk jobs are very different. I was talking about at a retail job on the register where your with customers you entire shift, and it's just rude to text or whatever while checking people out.

I just read all 4 pages of this, and I don't really think I can go back to quote everyone's specific statement, so please bare with me...


First - I think the people who are getting all upset about their rights and "no one's taking my phone!" are mistakenly thinking that managers are just randomly taking people's phones. "You got a phone?" "Yep." <SMACK> "GIVE IT TO ME NOW!"

That's not what's happening. It's most likely something like this:

Boss: Jim, get off your phone.
Jim: But it's an emerrrrrrrrgency! WAAH!
<later>
Boss: Jim, I told you before - no cellphones.
Jim: But WAAAAH I WANNA TXT WITH PEOPLE!
<later>
Boss: This is the third time I've had to tell you Jim, that does it - give me the damn phone.

YESH!! That's exactly what's happening! The last time someone used the "It's an eeemerrrrrgancy!!!" It was really so-and-so is breaking up with who-gives-a-shit. So yeah big ermengancy, put the damn phone away!!

The thread over at CS and this thread here are proof enough that it is safe to assume that the greater majority of people are self important and arrogant enough to think that they are entitled to have their phone within a 2 second reach at all times at work, and that it's no big deal to call/text while on the clock and not on break.

You have no idea >.<

At least half of my co-workers (probably more) are doing this. Several have been in the office talked to by the SM. Sometimes I hate working with people "my age".

[AdminAssistant]

I was very lucky to have help from my father when I went to college (single dad- my mom died when I was 13).

Didn't mean to point fingers, Design. I had some help from my parents, too, and had to keep a scholarship. But I do have quite a few students who only panic about grades when they realize that Mom and Dad might pull their funds. But that's neither here nor there.

Now, I will say that if a student says, "Hey, my grandma's in surgery" or some other similar situation, then I'd have no problem with them keeping their phone on, and quietly leaving to take a call if it came. But at least tell me. It also doesn't bother me when somebody's phone rings because they forgot to turn it off. We're all forgetful sometimes, and yes, it has happened to me, too. A quick apology, turn it off, and move on with life.

I should say that I do take my cell phone with me to class. Why? Partially because I usually have my purse with me, and that's where the phone lives. Partially because I want to have access to a phone in case of an emergency such as a student passing out, having a seizure, or, sad to say, some act of violence (there aren't phones in the rooms).

[DesignFox]

Didn't mean to point fingers, Design.

I didn't think you did. I was just making the point that my dad would have kicked my ass if I had blown my opportunity (for any reason really).

Blas expressed that she was frustrated that she was not lucky enough to have that sort of help, and that it drives her nuts that people she knows do such stupid things when she would just love to be in class in their place!

I had classmates who had cell phones and spent more time on them in class than you know, actually taking notes or paying attention- it pissed me off to no end when they would disturb class.

I should say that I do take my cell phone with me to class. Why? Partially because I usually have my purse with me, and that's where the phone lives. Partially because I want to have access to a phone in case of an emergency such as a student passing out, having a seizure, or, sad to say, some act of violence (there aren't phones in the rooms).

Again, very convenient. And if your school has no direct policy regarding phones, great.

Each situation is unique to the job. I understand this. I'm not saying no one should have a cell phone on the job ever. Just that any company's policy regarding their usage should be respected. Because, unless your job states that you must have a phone on you, you don't NEED one. Even in a classroom, it is convenient, not necessary, to have one. It is easy to store it. But if you didn't have it, or the service wasn't working, you could easily send a student to get the nurse, go to the office to dial 911, etc.

And if you are working a cash register, circling a sales floor, or some other such situation, you shouldn't be checking for missed calls, texts...etc.

That's my point. They are convenient. Not necessary.

[AdminAssistant]

We aren't given any policies about cell phones, except a recommendation not to give our cell or home numbers to students. And it's not as if I'm playing on it while I'm teaching. It's also helpful in the rooms that don't have clocks. So, again, job by job situation.

[DGoddess]

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.

We have a cellphone ban at work. I can't tell you how many times I've seen cashiers playing with their phones at the registers in between customers. I mean, it's bad enough we get customers who come through the line yapping away on their phones and won't even acknowledge us but to have the cashiers doing the same thing????????

I'm sorry . . . rude is rude, doesn't matter which side of the fence you're on. If you're on a register, you don't need to have your phone turned on. If you don't have a purse to store it in or your car with you, turn the damn thing OFF. You can check your messages on your break time or after you clock out at the end of the shift . . . .

Now, our store manager has told us department heads that we can have our phones on the sales floor. Which kinda makes sense in a way, but still there's the potential for abuse.

Not that Cheetah sets any great example . . . he'll have his phone going off while he's on the floor and be chatting with his wife or whoever.

I did have my phone on me Wednesday . . . and although I have one of those holsters with the swivel type belt clip, the damn thing kept getting in my way while I was working/bending/stooping . . . that one day just drove me crazy. Add to the fact that I'm a bit anal about getting scratches on anything and I didn't want it getting beat and banged up while working . . .

So it stays where it's the safest . . . in my purse, inside my locker . . . turned OFF. If I need to use the phone (and it's usually to call home for something) I can wait until I take a break to get it out and use it.

[AFPheonix]

Y

When I worked for *popular mall store* my grandmother broke her hip. My parents called the store, the manager answered, she got me, put me on the line with my folks, said, "Come to the hospital when your shift is over" and that was that. And, that's the only real emergency - family member/close friend in the hospital. What's the time difference...30 seconds? A minute? What else would you consider an emergency?

I'm glad you don't work with complete morons. I apparently have a few people in the front end that are a few crayons short of a box. For example, one evening my poor husband's work vehicle broke down. The tow guy wouldn't give him a ride, a taxi wasn't going to get to his location for hours. Since he wasn't too horribly far from my store, he tried to get ahold of me so I could go get him, and then he could at least hang in the waiting area for the remainder of my shift. Unfortunately, I was keeping my phone in my locker at that point so he couldn't get me that way, and at the time the phone numbers for the front end of the store and the pharmacy were separate.
The gal in the front end kept hanging up on him instead of transferring him back to me. His phone eventually died, so he ended up hoofing it to my store (it took him awhile to get there).
If I'd had my phone, I could have nipped out and gotten him and brought him back where he could be safe and warm. It was a slow enough night it wouldn't have been a big deal to do it.

I started keeping my phone on my person when my BIL started living with us, because he is a substance abuser, and I needed to be available in case he pulled something. I can't promise that my coworkers will route my calls to me, as it is, a few times my husband has called the pharmacy direct and they've told him I wasn't there even when I was standing not 10 feet away. Now he can just text me and I can answer in the back at my convenience. No harm done.

[Pedersen]

What amazes me in this thread is the number of people who are willing to say "That person is my boss, and therefore has the right to take my stuff from me."

That's bullshit. My phone is my property. The only time someone has the right to take my property is if that someone is a police officer with a warrant to seize that property. Anybody else gets squat from me without my permission.

What the management can do is say that the phone is not allowed. They may use a variety of other punishments to enforce the policy, including sending me home, writing me up, giving me truly unpleasant jobs to do, firing me, etc. But they may not take my phone. It is mine. And I will have no problem saying as much to any manager that tried to take it.

Their legal ability to do anything relates exclusively to their ability to affect my job. Keep your hands off my property without my permission.

Seems like a fairly simple rule to me. Don't know why anybody thinks anything different, honestly.

[Cats]

In that case, say you parked your car where towing rules were posted and enforced. Would you come back and say, "they had no right to touch my car!! That's my property!" Good luck with that.

Honestly, it's no different. They took the car away without your permission because a violation of a rule took place and they enforced the posted punishment. How is using your phone on the clock if your employer says not to different? A phone is no more your property than a car is; it matters not that a phone can fit on your person but a car can't. Your personal property does not have to be on your person to count as your property.

Where should a line be drawn? Should a person be allowed refuse to remove earrings/jewelry for their job, citing, "my property" even if they pose a potential safety threat?

If there is no such rule about no cellphones posted, then while I still don't think they are a necessity, you are right in saying they shouldn't have a right to take it away (it shouldn't even be an issue anyway if they allow it). But if they do have a rule and you break it? Prepare to face consequences. Personally, I'd rather just fork over the damn thing until the end of my shift than lose my job. And while yes, there are other things an employer can do to punish you, taking away the offending object is by far, IMO, the most effective that will have a lasting effect. Lose a few hours pay (or even the job itself) VS temporarily use an object I shouldn't have been using anyway? I'd personally go with the latter. I need a paycheck. I don't need a cellphone.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Where I work, no-one is allowed to have their mobiles on them while working. Yup, you bring your phone to work and it stays in your locker for your entire shift. I have not ever seen anyone drop dead cuz they were unable to use their phone; or indeed, anyone who was unreachable when an emergency happened. At the petrol station, we have a phone that can be used for internal or external calls; there is also a work mobile that can also be used. The manager has everyone's phone numbers in the diary. Believe me, I don't miss having my phone on me at all. If I'm on lunch, I can check my mobile, but on a paid break, I can't.

My phone sends out calls and receives them; sends out texts and receives them. That's it. It's not a toy for playing games on, it's a means of communication due to the fact that I don't have a landline.

[Boozy]

I'm sorry . . . rude is rude, doesn't matter which side of the fence you're on. If you're on a register, you don't need to have your phone turned on.

You were assuming that my phone was turned on and I was available to take calls? I didn't say that, and it's not true.

All I'm saying is that there is no safe place to secure my valuables when I am at work. So I have to keep them close to me at the till. I don't text, read, or answer my phone.

[Dreamstalker]

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.

Precisely. The bookstore I worked at didn't have lockers per se (cubbies in the break room), but if an employee had a small item they were concerned about it could be stashed in either the manager's desk, floor safe or receiving desk (the safe locked; the two desks always had someone at them). Cellphones weren't allowed, but everyone was really good about getting messages to each other.

The security of belongings at GameStore is limited to "if you can stick it under the counter" or "the office door closes" so I kept my purse/phone on my person or within reach.

[katie kaboom]

What amazes me in this thread is the number of people who are willing to say "That person is my boss, and therefore has the right to take my stuff from me."

That's bullshit. My phone is my property. The only time someone has the right to take my property is if that someone is a police officer with a warrant to seize that property. Anybody else gets squat from me without my permission.

Finally, a voice of reason. It's really refreshing to see someone stand up for their rights.

So thank you Pedersen, you have renewed some of my faith in people.

[Pedersen]

I seem able to count about three significant problems with your reply, Cats.

In that case, say you parked your car where towing rules were posted and enforced. Would you come back and say, "they had no right to touch my car!! That's my property!" Good luck with that.

Problem one: This analogy is like giving an aspirin to a fish: It doesn't make sense.

In the case of my car being towed, my property was in a place that was blocking another property owner from using their property. As a result, there is quite sufficient legal precedent to say that, if I'm blocking someone else's lawful use of their property, I (or my property) can be legally removed to enforce the original property owner's rights.

Since my manager does not own me, and does not own my phone, there exists no legal basis for the manager being able to confiscate my phone.

Where should a line be drawn? Should a person be allowed refuse to remove earrings/jewelry for their job, citing, "my property" even if they pose a potential safety threat?

Problem two: Inserting new arguments into my own argument that I did not make.

I specifically stated that the employer is free to decide their own policies and even to enforce them. However, that freedom to enforce those policies vanishes when they start taking my property from me. In fact, I would not be surprised to find out that, if an employer demanded that I place my property into his/her hands, I would then be in my legal rights to call the police and report a theft.

If there is no such rule about no cellphones posted, then while I still don't think they are a necessity, you are right in saying they shouldn't have a right to take it away (it shouldn't even be an issue anyway if they allow it). But if they do have a rule and you break it? Prepare to face consequences. Personally, I'd rather just fork over the damn thing until the end of my shift than lose my job. And while yes, there are other things an employer can do to punish you, taking away the offending object is by far, IMO, the most effective that will have a lasting effect. Lose a few hours pay (or even the job itself) VS temporarily use an object I shouldn't have been using anyway? I'd personally go with the latter. I need a paycheck. I don't need a cellphone.

Problem three: Preferred consequences versus legal rights.

I would prefer to only get a writeup, or to have to place my phone someplace that I agree it will be safe. However, that does not mean they have the legal right to take it from me.

Aside from those three problems, though, it was a good reply.

[Cats]

I know it wasn't perfect, and I do agree that bosses shouldn't DEMAND you hand over your property. However, if guidelines were followed regarding cell phone rules in the workplace, a boss would never even NEED to make that sort of stand (and if they did without cause, then yes, I would 100% agree regardless that it's fine to tell them to screw off).

I recently had an issue at my workplace with someone using an iPod on the salesfloor (which was posted as not allowed. In the backroom, the boss doesn't care, so merely having one in your pocket was NOT an offense). When I finally brought it up to the boss, one of the things I DID ask was if I was within my rights to take it away from him should he refuse to keep it off after repeatedly asking him. She told me I was, however, she suggested I not do that, mainly for liability reasons, and instead, ask HIM to put it in an agreed upon safe place with me supervising said placement. I think that works fine. However, a friend of mine who heard the story disagreed with me saying that TOO counts as confiscating someone's property without permission, even if I never touch the object itself or make them keep it in a place unavailable to them at the end of their shift.

That's sort of what I had in mind when I wrote that post. You know, the whole, "I don't care what I'm doing with it, it's mine and you will not touch it period, even if I know I wasn't supposed to do what I did and I was well aware of the consequences and agreed to them" mentaility I've seen from some people (not necessarily from here).

[Evandril]

My apologies, I missed the 'on them', and read it as noone needs a cell phone.