New phone rules at work
I am just so upset to think she may "take away my phone" during work hours...(I rarely have calls) We are supposed to sign a form acknowledging we understand the new rule, but I may not sign it because they do not own my phone or pay the bills on it. So the fact she thinks she can take it away, is absurd! Really I feel like back in grade school and got caught chewing gum!!!!!  Am I wrong in thinking this way? |
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| I agree with you - 100%. Treating responsible adults as children is micro-managing, in my opinion. It's one thing to limit usage- quite another to "take your phone". I hate "broad" statement rules such as this. In my experience there may be one or two abusers, and instead of dealing with them, everyone pays the price! Sounds like you have a very tenured staff that should be treated as such.... I know how frustrating it can be. My company is going through changes, and I feel like my every move is being checked against "policy"... and of course my 12 year Doogie Houser manager wants to be on the fast track to climbing the corporate ladder.   Good luck! |
| I'm so glad not to be working these days. Horror stories make me shudder. Where to school bullies go? They become office managers. With a more mature staff such Draconian policies are unnecessary.........but someone is spending way too much time on the phone. It's sad that people are so attached to their phones they have forgotten or never learned self control, work ethic, etc. Friend's son was nearly killed in a car accident by someone sending a text message while on a freeway. I'm afraid some rules have to be spelled out but it ends up hurting those who are not guilty. |
| Sadly, I get it. I don't like it, but I get it. Likely, they are setting a policy in place so that they may actually bust the one offender whom this is really aimed at. This is a simple case of one bad apple that does spoil the entire basket. I work in IT and we've begun discussing limiting the accessibility to certain social sites due to one or two co-workers who can't seem to regulate themselves. All 700+ employees will be restricted due to two. Our HR folks have to have a real policy in place prior to disciplining the two. Sadly again, we know that even if we do put said policy in place, it'll only be a matter of days before these two go over that line. I also get that part of your concern is that you'll be relieved of your own personal property. Again, I don't like it but I get it. Legally, I'm not sure they'd have the right to confiscate a cell phone. It's not like its a firearm that is governed by local or federal law. I'm also willing to bet that someone is already looking into this. Someone who is far more likely to be genuinely worried about losing their phone. Vance |
| We have really strict rules about personal phone use at work (I work with a health regulatory body) however here in Aus. it would be completely not ok to take someone's personal property away from them. We can be asked to explain if we use our phones too much during work hours and be disciplined if it went that far but no confiscation is allowed. They did go so far once as to state that our phones shouldn't be out on our desks but everyone ignored that verbal directive as we've asked family to contact us on our phones and not tie up work lines. No one I know abuses the privilege. I would be really indignant and angry if I were you but Australian work practices apply. |
| I can understand rules restricting lengthy personal phone calls at work and agree that this is targeted at one offender. Managers who can't have courageous conversations with irresponsible workers should not be managers. However, YOUR personal property cannot be taken away from you. You can be told you can't use it during work time, but they cannot take it from you. I hate micromanagers. I've been blessed with good bosses in my 30+ years of working. I had one who was an idiot, but he pretty much left us alone. (He clipped his fingernails while giving me my annual review). |
| The signing of the form indicates that you are happy to go along with this contractual change of your terms and conditions. What is the outcome if you don't sign the form? |
| I may sign it in agreement with the computer restrictions, but will state that I am not in agreement with the "threat" of taking away my personal property that they have no right over. It wouldn't have been so bad until I heard our "new" administrator talk on her "company" cell phone (that she makes no payments on) and talk for 10 minutes on a private call after most employees were gone....except me. I do not like double standards. We are restricted if we have family calls to 1-2 minutes. Not sure what the outcome is if I don't sign. I am sure our company owner is not aware of the new restrictions that were not written without his consent and I am positive he would not go along with taking away our private phones away from us. I have worked with this woman for over 14 years and had no problem with her until she became the "new administrator". She has turned into a "bully" and 3 employees have quit already. She lies and is hard to trust. She writes us memos in red ink, capitalized, large letters, underlined with exclamation points galore and the memos are not nice 95% of the time. It's like being in grade school again. |
| O work for the State of NY. we are not allowed to use the phone for personal calls...we are also now allowed to use the computer for personal e mails or anything personal AND if we use our personal lap tops on THEIR wi-fi we are subject to disciplinary action...I am an executive member of our Union Board. I was voted in to represent our employees. I can tell you we have had A LOT of disciplinary actions for members using their own personal computer during work hours... |
| We have a few people in our office, including our Operations Manager, who are notorious for putting customers on hold and taking personal calls. Non emergency. We also have a person who takes time off on the only day the supervisor in her dept is off, to get her hair done because it is free!! The only time I use my cell is if I am expecting a doctor or extremely important call. I excuse myself to take. The one that gets her hair done, is constantly calling her friends and making plans and when she has her dog in day care, she has a hard time taking calls because she is sooooooo busy watching her dog on the website!!!! And of course the younger ones that have to text all the time. Very poor work ethics. We all know there are times when you have to take or make personal calls at work. Especially when other companies have the same office/work hours. BUT OMG!!! You would think some people would go through with drawl without their cell phones and can't function!!  |
Archies Slave wrote: The signing of the form indicates that you are happy to go along with this contractual change of your terms and conditions. The US is not like the UK with regard to employment for the most part. Generally there are not employment contracts as there are in Europe. Most private sector employees in the US are "at-will" employees, so there is no contractual change happening here. Private employers are permitted to change their own policies and rules so long as they do not violate state or federal employment laws anytime they choose. Having rules in place that there are no or very limited personal calls during work hours is legal and well within the rights of the organization to create. Confiscating personal items is not legal. Laws on personal property in the workplace generally differ by state. Employers can certainly set a policy saying personal cellphones are not permitted on the premises if they want to, and you as the employee can choose (at will) to work there or not. But the employer cannot confiscate your personal property. They can terminate you if you choose to disregard the company policy, but not take your property. I'm sorry you are having to deal with this person. |
| Where I work, they have blocked the computers from any use that is not work related. Even if you try to look up CNN, it will come up blocked. We are also prohibited from personal phone use during working hours. All cell phones are to be turned off. I work with approx. 15 nurses on each shift, and there is always one that is constantly checking her texts when she should be doing patient care. I've seen staff hiding their phone under a table to check for messages. I understand the necessity of the rules. Some people just don't have common sense. I have never seen a phone taken from someone. I don't believe that would be allowed however, I'm sure someone could get fired from using their phone during working hours. |
| I need to keep my cell handy because I have 2 elderly parents living nearby and I will give it up for that reason alone. Caught the "new administrator" on a 10 minute personal phone call on her company owned phone yesterday. Guess the rule doesn't pertain to her. Only 1 more year to medicare.................. |
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