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Yeah, because you'd REALLY be keeping track of how many times a person is using the restroom...
LOL absolutely.
You seriously never heard of that?
At the phone companies, you go on break. RARELY do you go at other times. And your time is monitored by the computer so yeah. Every minute is accounted for.
Do you think you get to shut your conveyor belt down in the middle of your shift at the grocery store to go to the bathroom? (you don't)
These jobs all have it in the job description, too.
I DO pee a lot - at home, while out, and at work - at least once every 2 hours or so. That is because I drink about 90-100 ounces of water every day. What goes in must come out!
Doing so has no bearing on my work performance, and I am one of the top performers at my job. No one has to "cover" for me while I run down the hall, and my boss trusts me to get the job done I am being paid to do. And I do. FWIW, my boss, when not on site, communicates with employees via text as well, so there is that!
It seems your job has nothing to do with the OP's job in the grocery store. Or lots of other jobs. Especially retail. Especially shift work. Nobody is saying there's NO flexibility ANYWHERE in the business world.
Location: In a rural place where people can't bother me ;)
516 posts, read 431,456 times
Reputation: 1009
Quote:
Originally Posted by Javacoffee
No, I'm supporting the BOSS. You know what a boss is, right? He or she is the one who hires and enforces the rules. Either follow those rules or find another job. If there's a family problem, the family will call the place of business. If there's any emergency within the facility, the boss will surely have a means of calling for help. (Rolling my eyes)
Pat you down? Naw. I'd give you a choice. Either quit or go to a doctor to find out why you have to pee so much. When the doctor reports back that there is nothing wrong with your bowels, kidneys or bladder... you're fired. Don't forget to take your silent phone with you.
I guess its a good thing I don't work for a communist employer. If I was fired for something as trivial as a phone on my person at work.....not being on it, just having it on my person....the person doing the firing would be payed a visit by me outside of work and it wouldn't be a pleasant visit
A lot of big companies like power plants and chemical plants have those rules. Even transportation company like truckers too
We're talking RETAIL here...hardly the same thing...not an area where there is any type of instrumentation that could be affected and not any safety issues from "inattention". They can have a crazy policy of no cellphone on the job but to not allow during lunch and breaks is too much. I'll bet it's hard for them to find people to agree to it, given the low pay and likely low benefits.
I had a job in the medical field with similar restrictions. Cell phones could not be brought into the building unless they were off. They said it was due to HIPAA regulations. Then I found out that was just their written policy and cell phones could be on you but had to be on silent and could only be used on breaks and at lunch.
I saw everyone using their cell phones in the break room at lunch and I got a call and accepted. The following day, in the lunchroom, one of the catty women made a loud remark about how great it is that employees aren't allowed to talk on their (own) cell phones while on (unpaid) lunch in the breakroom or else lunch would be too chaotic. There weren't any signs up anywhere about this rule. This woman wasn't there when I quietly spoke on my phone the day before, but obviously, someone complained to her.
I don't regret taking that call from my friend because she ended up killing herself a few weeks later. I ended up quitting that job around the same time.
That policy is absolutely ridiculous and unnecessary, especially considering this is a retail establishment. It is not like you're working for some contractor for Dept. of Defense with top-secret documents or nuclear reactors. {snip}
I could even see the potential for a lawsuit against the employer in a situation where say, a family member is desperately needing to contact you in a dire emergency and can not reach you or is denied talking to you if they call the store phone.
I have seen cases like that happen, where a hospital had someone come in gravely injured, a next of kin tries to call the mother and was never given the message at work--finds out hours later her son died some time after being brought in. I would not only be livid, but I would sue my employer too (as she did).
Absolutely. As the one person said, it's not 1970. A person's phone anymore is their wallet and keys, and the expectation now exists that if someone needs to get a hold of you for something IMPORTANT (not yacking about sports scores) that it shouldn't take 9 hours for it to happen even if you're at work, and I find that totally the way it should be.
And no, I'm not leaving my phone with someone else or in the car, as one person said there's a lot of info in there, there's the value of it, and there's also the issue of that it can easily be forgotten (in the locker) or stolen (in the car). You are NOT getting your hands on it, period, you will have to take it from me by physical force. If it were up to me, with a few exceptions (Department of Defense etc as you said), it would actually be a legally protected RIGHT for an employee to have his/her phone on them. Just like minimum wage, you would be MADE to allow it or be sanctioned legally for it. I'm absolutely serious.
Yes, I have children in school, and I get the occasional phone call, I also get the occasional call from my wife because she gets off work about the time I go into work and she needs clarity on a few things and is checking in with me quickly--GET OVER IT. I'm not a juror in sequester, if the school or my wife needs to get a hold of me for such periodically the peons can just get over it, especially if it's not happening a dozen times a day (and it isn't). Heck customers sometimes chat on their phone instead of engaging in talking with me, and I don't grumble about how "rude" that is. And why should someone have to know my home number, cell number, work number, pager number etc and keep track of all of that when they can instead know one number that always works? That's silly.
Really, what is with this persecution of cell phones users and enacting policies that's as if we're little children in grade school? Adults have every right to be treated better than that. If someone is found to be unproductive, then OK deal with it, but banning all phones for everyone because of what the unproductive do is way over-the-top.
Besides, there are other habits and such that are just as likely to cause problems. What about people who take a bunch of "smoke breaks?" What about all of that hanging out at the water cooler? Goofing off is goofing off. Period. It matters not whether you used a phone, a cigarette, or a vibrator. You goofed off, THAT is what matters. By the same token, phone or no phone, if you're productive, that's what matters.
And I'm sorry, if someone trusts me so little they presume I'm going to use the camera in there to photograph someone's credit card, that's insulting to an employee to be thought of that way. I deserve a better level of trust than to be treated like that. I mean, what else, can I not keep a box cutter on me because I might use it to cut somebody? Should pockets be banned because, you know, I just MIGHT use them to hide something? Should I have to be naked because I might be hiding something in my underwear? Should purses be banned for women? Should men not be allowed hats NOT because of dress code concerns but because they might be hiding something under their hat? Should I have my eyes covered with a blindfold because an attractive woman may be present and I MIGHT glance at her chest? Suppose someone strangles someone with a micro USB phone charging card, are you now going to confiscate all phone charging cords? Heck someone could really hurt someone with their car keys, are car keys now banned?
The part about no phone calls during breaks and lunch seems overly excessive to me. If you aren't on the clock they can't dictate what you do. Sometimes people who are anti-cell phones can become a little self-righteous and controlling. I'd have walked away too, not because of their policy but their unwillingness to be flexible.
I think the policy as outlined by the OP sounds strict, but your calling people who don't want their employees using cell phones or receiving social calls while on the job "self-righteous and controlling", is unfair and snarky.
I suspect that the employer (small retail business) must have had some serious problems with one or more prior employees who placed their personal life above their job by talking or texting on their cell phones or surfing the internet while they were supposed to be doing the work for which they were being paid. Time taken away from actual work costs the employer money, as work is not getting done during that time. This is especially true if there are few employees to take up the slack.
Parents do not need to be in constant touch with their children. People don't need push alerts giving them news or sports scores. No one needs to get texts. Of course, if there is an emergency situation (wife ready to give birth, someone is having surgery, employee is awaiting serious lab test results expected, etc.) the store number should be given out if the employee has broken the rules regarding use of own cell phone. Those sorts of calls are important.
As to whether an employer can control an employee's behavior during breaks, it depends. If everyone shares a small common space indoors that is provided by the employer to eat, drink beverages, etc., then the employer has a right to set up some rules about that space and that time. (If the employee does not likes those rules, s/he ought to exit the work and/or break area and go outside to place calls during their break.)
And sometimes it is the employees themselves who set up rules for "break rooms."For example, where my husband worked, there was a department "break room" and because one person had a peanut allergy, nobody (for the decades she worked there) was permitted to bring anything into the workspace or the "break room" containing peanuts. (Everyone was glad when she finally left so they could enjoy protein-rich peanut products again.) Also, many of the employees got together and decided that no one could microwave anything "smelly," so fish was banned.
There are also noise considerations. Some people cannot seem to grasp the concept of speaking quietly and briefly. People who share space with someone (especially customers on the floor) don't want to overhear long, chatty conversations.
I would not be surprised to learn the employer is also concerned that the employee with the cell phone might use it to snap photos, record video or conversations (recording audio without permission can be illegal).
In fact, here's a story about a store employee who did just that (voyeurism):
I used to work with smokers, who would take 15 minute breaks to go smoke outside the building. Some now use vapes, to cope. I'm not sure I would like not having a cellphone access at all during the workday... it would have to be some amazing pay to make me overlook that.
I think that in certain circumstances due to security a no-phone policy is reasonable.
I've heard of rooms and whole buildings where cell phones weren't allowed, but that was because the work done was confidential or top secret. They just don't want to take the chance with electronic devices not in their chain of commands. This is for both corporate America and government jobs.
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