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In the line of work I am familiar with, it is standard for cell phones (and any other electronic gadgets) to be banned from the premises, or required to be locked up upon entrance to the building. However, landlines are provided and personal calls are fine, as long as they are kept to a minimum (5 minutes to make arrangements for child pickup, for example).
I would not accept a job where there were no way for a family member or child care provider to reach me on a regular basis.
I DID read the OP. I can count on one hand the number of true emergency calls I've received in my lifetime. If one truly has an actual emergency like their mother was in a severe car accident and is in the hospital, then a family member could call the store's landline to let the person know. That's VERY rare.
As a parent, I receive an "actionable" call probably once a week. My kid has a fever and needs to be picked up, my husband has to work late and needs me to pick up the kid he was going to pick up, my husband or I needs to schedule a work trip or a doctor's appointment for him, me, or any of the kids, and we have to coordinate our schedules so that we don't end up trying to go out of town at the same time or one of the kids has a doc appointment when both parents have meetings, etc. Granted, no one's dying, but those are still important communications.
I wish we had such a cell phone policy in the ERs I have worked in! One of the reasons I retired was having to pick up the slack of younger nurse and med students who 'stepped out' into an empty room or closet to check their emails, texts, or to talk to their signif. others during their work shifts. I'm not talking about an incidence here or there, either. Probably something similar happened in this business, so they made a one size fits all rule.
Go work somewhere else.
As a parent, I receive an "actionable" call probably once a week. My kid has a fever and needs to be picked up, my husband has to work late and needs me to pick up the kid he was going to pick up, my husband or I needs to schedule a work trip or a doctor's appointment for him, me, or any of the kids, and we have to coordinate our schedules so that we don't end up trying to go out of town at the same time or one of the kids has a doc appointment when both parents have meetings, etc. Granted, no one's dying, but those are still important communications.
These aren't emergencies and should be taken care of on your break. If you are working a few hours a day like the OP was looking for, surely you could find time in the other 20 or so hours in the day to make those phone calls.
All of these scenarios are based on where you work. If you are working in a customer facing position, you can't take personal phone calls in front of them. Customers will not understand you are on a break. They will understand they are getting rotten customer service -- even if they aren't.
I worked at a bank, and if my husband called to tell me he was working late, gotta go, love you.... that was okay in front of customers (and back then phones were at the back of the line, so you could talk quietly, open the sig card drawer and cover yourself.)
A longer involved phone call was call you back, and take a break upstairs in the meeting room, and sit and talk. In private.
Had a couple of those.
But with cell phones, it's almost too immediate, and you have to pick up, and a lot of people -- not saying everyone, not saying most.... but to a lot of people that sense of immediacy makes EVERYTHING an emergency. We used to save funny articles from our newspaper -- about people who called 911 because McDonalds stopped serving breakfast and it wasn't their fault they had to wait at the drive through for so long they passed the cut off. The one where the lady called 911 about the IHOP she was at didn't honor the latest ad, and she wanted her free pancakes.
These people are dumb, but it does show that people have very different ideas about what constitutes an emergency. Heck, my own mom would call 911 when her power went off in a general power outage.
if you think the no cell phone thing is bad -- our bank didn't allow microwave popcorn or microwaving strong smelling foods -- the smell was so strong, it permeated the building, and the bank president hit the roof over it. Can you imagine telling someone I got fired for microwave popcorn?
All of these scenarios are based on where you work. If you are working in a customer facing position, you can't take personal phone calls in front of them. Customers will not understand you are on a break. They will understand they are getting rotten customer service -- even if they aren't.
I worked at a bank, and if my husband called to tell me he was working late, gotta go, love you.... that was okay in front of customers (and back then phones were at the back of the line, so you could talk quietly, open the sig card drawer and cover yourself.)
A longer involved phone call was call you back, and take a break upstairs in the meeting room, and sit and talk. In private.
Had a couple of those.
But with cell phones, it's almost too immediate, and you have to pick up, and a lot of people -- not saying everyone, not saying most.... but to a lot of people that sense of immediacy makes EVERYTHING an emergency. We used to save funny articles from our newspaper -- about people who called 911 because McDonalds stopped serving breakfast and it wasn't their fault they had to wait at the drive through for so long they passed the cut off. The one where the lady called 911 about the IHOP she was at didn't honor the latest ad, and she wanted her free pancakes.
These people are dumb, but it does show that people have very different ideas about what constitutes an emergency. Heck, my own mom would call 911 when her power went off in a general power outage.
if you think the no cell phone thing is bad -- our bank didn't allow microwave popcorn or microwaving strong smelling foods -- the smell was so strong, it permeated the building, and the bank president hit the roof over it. Can you imagine telling someone I got fired for microwave popcorn?
I take phones call sometimes ( both work and non work related reasons) even when Im helping a customer out in person
I guess it depends on your environment but as long as you don't abuse your cellphone
Everything is good because teachers and staff do the same thing as well taking phone calls when Im helping them.
It goes both ways.
Like I said
We are not children
I don't need a boss telling me to put my phone away.
Most Adults are smart enough to not abuse their cellphone priveledges
I checked into a part-time retail position in a family-owned business close to home. It seemed ideal for me as a 24/7 caregiver who is retired and just wanted to work a few hours a day, a few days a week, for extra income and to get out of the house.
They wanted to hire me ''on the spot'' and the hours seemed fine considering my role at home, until their cell phone policy came to light.
It seemed overly strict to me: no cell phones at work, period. If you brought one with you it had to be left at the front desk or in your car. No making or accepting ANY phone calls at work. Not even during break, lunch, via their landlines, or your cell.
As a caregiver that was unacceptable and there was no budging on their policy, so that ended that for me.
I mean, who would work where they could not even be contacted via the store's line for a family emergency?
Anyone run into policies this strict?
It seems a bit much making landlines off limits.
i understand cellphones have cameras which makes them instruments of crime if used that way.
They cannot dictate if you are off their property.
I am so glad I work for myself and don't have to deal with anyone telling me when I can look at my phone or go to the bathroom.
Even when I worked in a dental office, though, there was no micromanaging like that. If you wanted to make a phone call, you could. If you had to go pee, you just went. If you wanted to go eat a handful of crackers in the staff kitchen or run downstairs to get a Pepsi, you could do that, too.
I would not deal with an employer who wanted to dictate such absurd things. I will do what I want on my breaks, thanks. I would not use my phone while ringing up customers, though. Who does that? I read the comments about "young people always on their phones," but I don't think I've ever seen an employee playing with or talking on their cellphone. Is this just something that baby boomers say about millennials? (I'm almost 40, by the way, in case you were thinking I was some young, phone-obsessed whippersnapper.)
I am so glad I work for myself and don't have to deal with anyone telling me when I can look at my phone or go to the bathroom.
Even when I worked in a dental office, though, there was no micromanaging like that. If you wanted to make a phone call, you could. If you had to go pee, you just went. If you wanted to go eat a handful of crackers in the staff kitchen or run downstairs to get a Pepsi, you could do that, too.
I would not deal with an employer who wanted to dictate such absurd things. I will do what I want on my breaks, thanks. I would not use my phone while ringing up customers, though. Who does that? I read the comments about "young people always on their phones," but I don't think I've ever seen an employee playing with or talking on their cellphone. Is this just something that baby boomers say about millennials? (I'm almost 40, by the way, in case you were thinking I was some young, phone-obsessed whippersnapper.)
Managers probably seen one employee who excessively use their cell phone at their company
Then decide to punish everyone else for it by putting a harsh phone policy.
My OPINION is that you can use your breaks and phone
Just don't abuse that priviledge too much.
Last edited by CosmoStars; 01-03-2017 at 09:40 PM..
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