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Any important calls/text messages........like what? A note that you won the Powerball? What could be so important that it couldn't wait? I'm asking you to provide an example of a text message that would be more important than your job and the person you are caring for.
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?
Yes. I once worked in medical billing. We weren't allowed to have a cell phone in the building due to HIPAA. We were only allowed to use them when we were out of the building during lunch or breaks.
Currently, I cannot have a cell phone in my office due to the nature of what I do. We have to either leave them in bins at the security desk or in our vehicles. Honestly it isn't that big of a deal. As a caregiver I can see that being an issue for you, but some companies do not want employees spending exorbitant amounts of time on their phone during work hours. Sometimes that 5 minute text turns into checking social media, email, etc... and turns into a 10 minute deal. Sprinkle that through a couple if instances in a day and suddenly the company is paying you for working 7 hours per day instead of 8. Multiply that amongst every employee and the cost quickly increases. Companies can lose thousands of dollars per year in productivity because of a cell phone.
While I allowed my employees to have their phones at my last job, they weren't allowed to use it unless they got off the Production floor and it had to be for emergencies. It was too dangerous to be distracted because if a machine lost its vacuum a hunk of aluminum could be flung like a Frisbee across the room and kill someone. Best case scenario, your machine finished a job and you let it sit for 10-15 minutes on and off during the day, slowing down the Production flow. You had to remain focused on the job. I've had to reprimand people for this a couple of times.
In my case I have had a couple of times where the school called and my mother-in-law who was supposed to pick up our kids from school before I got home had in fact not shown up and they could not get her on the phone. She's prone to that sometimes, and I've had SOME success getting other people to help out who aren't as prone to that, but other times I'm just not able to line other people up and we have to live and die with the mother-in-law.
Most times she actually does fine, but yes there have been 2 or so times where she loused it up. They're going to call me in those situations, they're not going to let my kids stay at school until 5:30 p.m. or so and in fact I'm told in such situations they'd call the sheriff and it would be regarded as child abandonment. One time they called and I proceeded to make a couple of calls to someone I knew who was close to the school and who had a son in that same school my son's age and who in fact had watched my kids before a few times, and I managed to convince them to go get our kids and watch them until I could get there, then I had to relay to the school that this person was on the way, a few minutes later I called back and they confirmed that it had worked out.
Am I supposed to leave my phone in the locker or such and have all that waiting for me when I get off, totally unaware,and spend an untold amount of time cleaning up the mess afterwards when 1-2 quick phone calls, hands-free with me still working pretty darned well mind you, were able to prevent that? If that is their definition of a "good employee" they can shove it up their [donkey]. I made those calls, in retail while waiting on customers mind you, and yes one person took issue with it and I actually told them "my family comes before your precious Dr Pepper" (that's what they were buying at the time).
The bold is where you lost me. You were working somewhere that was in the business of selling precious Dr. Pepper and that person was a customer of said business. As a cashier customer relations is part of your job, and taking a snotty condescending attitude towards a customer like that is a poor way of doing your job. You could have conveyed your point to the customer in a much more polite and appropriate manner than that.
Years ago, I was at one job when only "Big Shots" had cell phones, which would have been none of us, so we received our calls through the company landline.
Some of the people were getting many calls of questionable legitimacy, so we all got cracked down upon that outside phone calls were to be for emergencies only, and I advised the person or two who would be the most likely to ever need to call me that this was the policy, and that part worked out just fine.
There was an instance when my car developed an issue that time just wouldn't let me fix on my own, so I scheduled a service appointment and arranged for a loaner car, and gave the dealership my work phone number, so they could contact me with an estimate of the repair charges, but they stored my work phone number in their customer database, and their most aggressive, pushy salesperson was allowed access to this information, and one day called me at work, thinking he was going to sell me a car, which I wasn't the least bit in the market for.
Let's just say, I Barbecued his rear end for doing this.
Any important calls/text messages........like what? A note that you won the Powerball? What could be so important that it couldn't wait? I'm asking you to provide an example of a text message that would be more important than your job and the person you are caring for.
Your child is sick and needs to be picked up, your partner was rushed to the hospital, your house was on fire...to name a few.
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?
Magically, people have survived for centuries without cell phones. This cell phone addiction is a fairly recent thing. If someone needs to get ahold of you, they can call the store. Not a big deal!
I own my own company and I have a STRICT ZERO tolerance policy for cell phone usage. First time, I find you using it during working hours, you receive a written warning. Second time, you're fired on the spot. The written warning was your second chance. There is no third chance. Don't like this policy? Be an adult! I am not paying you to be on your phone. I'm paying you to work. End of story.
Magically, people have survived for centuries without cell phones. This cell phone addiction is a fairly recent thing. If someone needs to get ahold of you, they can call the store. Not a big deal!
I own my own company and I have a STRICT ZERO tolerance policy for cell phone usage. First time, I find you using it during working hours, you receive a written warning. Second time, you're fired on the spot. The written warning was your second chance. There is no third chance. Don't like this policy? Be an adult! I am not paying you to be on your phone. I'm paying you to work. End of story.
If you had read the OP you would have seen that not only are cell phones not allowed neither are emergency calls at work.
The OP says twice "could not even be contacted via the store's line for a family emergency"
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?
No I have never encounter a strict phone policy.
Where I work at, We can use our cell phones as long as we don't abuse it too much.
As an IT Technician we usually have to google things we don't know or forgot, so we will need access to some sort of technology. ( Cell phone or Laptop.)
If you have a policy that strict you should quit such a job.
You can always go to the bathroom and just use your phone there.
I don't think no one is stupid enough to see what you are doing in the bathroom, much less check to see if you are using your phone.
I thou most work places know at some point **** happens and people need to have their phones ready( who will pick up the kid, some wrong happens and you get a phone call, etc)
Magically, people have survived for centuries without cell phones. This cell phone addiction is a fairly recent thing. If someone needs to get ahold of you, they can call the store. Not a big deal!
I own my own company and I have a STRICT ZERO tolerance policy for cell phone usage. First time, I find you using it during working hours, you receive a written warning. Second time, you're fired on the spot. The written warning was your second chance. There is no third chance. Don't like this policy? Be an adult! I am not paying you to be on your phone. I'm paying you to work. End of story.
I think your policy is too HARSH and most people will end up either not liking you as a boss or leaving you ( Even your good employees)
Its especially easier said than done for Techs because we resolve issues somethings by googling things online or makings calls to other techs.
I personally thing its okay to use as long as your work is getting done.
Things happen at some point
Are you not gonna let Roger answer his phone? What if his kids in the hosptal?
What if something bad happen to his wife?
Yeah, because you'd REALLY be keeping track of how many times a person is using the restroom...
I worked in an office as an HR manager and the corporate accountant did keep track of how many times I used the bathroom throughout the day. If I went twice or more before lunch, she would say something to me. How she knew I was in the rest room, I'll never understand since I was in and out of my office frequently since I was the HR manager and had a ton of meetings.
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