Legal Question - Work-Related

[selhars]

Some people still don't get it. The bad judgement was the OP,

I get it very well. You're correct. And that has nothing to do with how the manager responded.

And what the manager did caused his company to lose production time and work time that could have -- and should have -- been devoted to the work, profit, and benefit of the company and its. customers or stakeholders. Instead, that manager caused a loss of that. Sure, the OP may not leave his phone out on the desk. He'll charge it in his drawer. AND perhaps go to the bathroom more often to check his phone. (ALSO leading to more lost productive time, BTW) If the attitude of a department is guided by the manager, what example has that manager just displayed.

What the manager did will lead to lost productive time -- and a resentful employee.
Nice job manager. Uh, not.

But whatever.

[Maddie104]

Originally Posted by selhars

I get it very well. You're correct. And that has nothing to do with how the manager responded.

And what the manager did caused his company to lose production time and work time that could have -- and should have -- been devoted to the work, profit, and benefit of the company and its. customers or stakeholders. Instead, that manager caused a loss of that. Sure, the OP may not leave his phone out on the desk. He'll charge it in his drawer. AND perhaps go to the bathroom more often to check his phone. (ALSO leading to more lost productive time, BTW) If the attitude of a department is guided by the manager, what example has that manager just displayed.

What the manager did will lead to lost productive time -- and a resentful employee.
Nice job manager. Uh, not.

But whatever.

I agree with you on the manager aspect but what's with needing to go to the bathroom more often to check his phone.

Unless there is an emergency and the employee is unreachable via office phone, I see no reason for someone going to the bathroom more often to check their phone. I would think lunch and end of work day would be sufficient.

[oldtrader]

Originally Posted by janet bubby

No, you're on the right track, this is totally inappropriate. This "manager" sounds immature and inept. I'm not sure there is a legal question here, but I'd be reporting this behavior immediately if you have a decent HR. It sounds like he may need some additional training and/or other assistance.

Wrong advice. Company rules, NO CELL PHONES AT WORK, AND THIS MEANS EXACTLY THAT. Putting your cell phone on your desk in the charger, is in violation of company rules, and is rubbing it in your companies face as they say. It is demonstrating to co-workers you can violate company rules, and this is something that a good manager cannot let happen, as other workers will follow your example if you are not come down on.

Cell phones are a big problem with a lot of companies, as workers stop work to answer their phone, and or to make calls. The companies loose hundreds to thousands of hours every year, that they are paying people for, when they use their cell phones instead of working.

Some companies have designed their buildings, in ways to make cell phones unusable in the building. Some require that all cell phones be put in a special locker when entering the building, and only retrieved when leaving the building.

Some companies would fire you for this violation of company rules.

HR would just laugh at you, when you made a complaint on this, and would put this as a violation of company rules, in your record. You can come out of this a lot worse, by going to HR.

It is not the manager that needs some additional training. It is the OP that needs some training that company rules must be followed, and not flouted in the managers face, that the OP does not think all company rules apply to him/her. That is exactly the message that the employee is making, when they violate the company rules by putting the cell phone on a charger on their desk.

[deposite]

If you know the policy, then follow it. I don't have my cell phone out while I'm on the clock for any reason. If it's an emergency, that's a different story but you don't do things like that to get fired.