Banning Cell Phones at Work

Paul in Cannon Beach

Our summer season is here now and we have taken the step of prohibiting our staff from carrying personal cell phones when working except when authorized to do so (for business reasons or in the event of an expected emergency call).

I went through this policy at our staff orientation with 50 or so new seasonal staff and was expecting some resistance or at least a few questions. To my suprise, they seemed unfazed by the policy and accepted it without comment.

Now I know that appearing to accept a rule and then following it are two different things so it will be interesting to see what level of actual compliance we have. Cell phones are pretty easy to conceal and our college age staff are adept at texting inconspicuously (so they think anyways).

Given the potential for distraction, innappropriate behavior, and safety issues, I can only imagine that banning personal cell phones in the workplace will be commonplace for employers if it isn't already. Perhaps that is partly why they did not seem to resist our new policy.

KSR6450

Let me play devil's advocate here... or do I just want to again disagree with Paul?

A friend works as a project manager for a steel fabrication company. His e-mail follows him on his Blackberry. Since he spends a large portion of his day on the manufacturing floor it is easier to carry the Blackberry than to lug around a desk or lap top computer. Now, he does also send personal texts from his phone, but it is a way for him to maintain contact with his fellow employees as well.

If your employees had their phones and used them to follow you on Twitter would that be okay? Or to contact you via FB?

I guess I just wish that people would be adults and not abuse things. I hate having to put rules in place for things that should be covered under "common sense". ::angryface::

ACU Frank

We ban them unless there is a specific job-related need. I termed a young lady last month when she got caught texting throughout an online tutorial on her very first day. This was a few hours after I went through the policy with her and got her signed acknowledgement; about two hours after her manager walked her to her locker and told her to keep her purse and phone in it; and minutes after two of her co-workers warned her that we're really serious about that policy.

However, I must say, I would have probably cut her some slack if she was following me on Twitter. [URL]http://twitter.com/frankevans[/URL] , if you're wondering.

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Paul in Cannon Beach

I got a little sharp with a young man who started texting during a new employee orientation. It turned out he was just texting his mom to send him some info he needed for his I-9.

NaeNae55

[QUOTE=ACU Frank;716425]

However, I must say, I would have probably cut her some slack if she was following me on Twitter. [URL]http://twitter.com/frankevans[/URL] , if you're wondering.

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I follow Frank and enjoy doing so, most of the time. He has quite a few humorous tweets, unless he is on a political rant. Then I tune him out.

Paul in Cannon Beach

I think in Linda's example you have an employee with a legitimate business purpose for carrying a cell phone. We have several employees who carry cell phones for business purposes. That's not the issue we are dealing with.

Our policy is addressed towards the housekeeper or dining room staff who do not need to carry a cell phone. For awhile, our rule was "dont use your cell phone" but we allowed staff to carry them because they used their cell phone as a watch. That policy was inneffective and now we have said "you can't carry a cell phone. period."

And if they want to follow me on Twitter of be my Facebook friend they can certainly do that on their breaks or off time. Or they can get my job and you can be on Facebook and still call it working.

cnghr

We have always been pretty lenient about the use of cell phones at work, with the exception of our front-line people who are not allowed to have theirs in their area during working hours. Now, however, I'm beginning to see so much texting (and other cell phone use that doesn't involve talking) during work, I'm thinking we may be ready to step it up a notch and, if not outright ban cell phones at this point, at least let them know that constant texting is just as disruptive to the workday as constantly talking on the phone. And it really irks me to see somebody sitting there texting all day and then being paid overtime because they couldn't finish up their actual WORK during a normal 8-hour day!

Paul in Cannon Beach

That was our issue. It wasn't phone calls. It was texting or reading texts.

Sharon McKnight SPHR

Paul,

Rather than banning cell phones, I would address this from a performance perspective. Excessive use cuts into performance, etc. Texting too much can be addressed the same way as talking too much while working. It's distracting to co-workers, makes workers unable to meet production requirements, etc..

I think that banning them is punishing everyone for the the "guilt" of a few when many only use them for emergencies or to keep track of children while mom or dad is working. In production environments, most workers don't have easy access to company phones and calls to them regarding family emergencies get delayed or, sometimes, the messages get lost altogether.

Most people are now completely reliant on their cell phones. (If I want to speak to my 80-year old mother, I'd better call her on her cell phone because she's probably out in the yard and nowhere near the house phone.) Working parents use them to receive "I'm home" calls from school children.

I know this issue can be very frustrating, but I'd think long and hard about it before I banned cellphone use.

Just my two cents.

Sharon

Paul in Cannon Beach

I guess I should clarify. Our policy addresses our seasonal summer staff who are mostly college age and work short shifts (about 3 hours on average) or have multiple breaks during their day where they can access their phones and check messages.

This was a policy several years in the making. We even held a focus group with our summer staff to get their input. We wrestled with this over several supervisor meetings as well.

Ultimately our conclusion was that the problems with disruption and distraction would continue and likely increase as long as we allowed summer staff to carry cell phones as their watches.

So we created our new policy and made an effort to notify all of our summer staff before they arrived so they could purchase a cheap watch if needed.

There is an addictive element to this as well in my opinion. Ignoring an incoming text message is more difficult for the average person than you might think. Each new text message brings with it the tantalizing prospect of new information, drama, romance, affirmation, and crisis. The message demands your attention even though in reality it probably is just a friend saying "wats up?"

Sharon McKnight SPHR

Paul,

Thanks for the clarification. It certainly puts the issue in a different light. If you have budget for it, providing inexpensive watches with your logo on them could be a good gesture and good advertising.

Just a thought.

Sharon

Paul in Cannon Beach

We actually did that last year in our housekeeping department. It worked OK but over time the watches started dissapearing. Not intentionally. I think people just forgot to return them.

This year we just asked them to bring a cheap watch if they don't have one.

I think in this discussion its important that we remember we are not talking about "phones" anymore. Your average cell phone can take photos (and upload them to the web), post updates on Twitter or other social networks ("work is sooooo boring LOL"), surf the web, send texts, play music, play videos, games, instant messaging, record video, record audio, and more.

Just the potential for employees taking photos or video at work and uploading them to the web (where they can be endlessly copied and distributed) should cause an employer to be concerned.

Watch this video I found on Youtube of some convenience store workers shot on their cell phone and ask yourself "do you want your organization represented this way on the internet?"

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NaeNae55

Looks like a fun place to work. Just imagine it! You go to work and have nothing to do but play and make messes. What fun!

Actually, I guess I make a lot of messes everywhere I go, but I don't get enough playtime. I am mistreated. ::angryface::

ACU Frank

Think Domino's wishes they had banned cell phones in the kitchen?

Paul in Cannon Beach

Yeah, I thought of that one too although there is speculation that the video from the Domino's incident was too good to have been shot by a cell phone.

The video I posted shows a workplace that is completely out of control. Given that most convenience stores have sophisticated video surveillance I am a little suprised that the employees acted so brazenly.

Paul in Cannon Beach

I dont think Nae is understanding why I posted this video. I posted it as a cautionary warning to employers. She's taking it as a "how to" instructional vide.

plynnl

We have a fake video camera posted at the front door and even though some of our employees have been here for years they still think it is a live camera.

ACU Frank

Back in the day, when I was "WOCO Frank", I was the HR Director for a chain of convenience stores. One night, an employee who was quitting (he hadn't told us this was his last night yet, of course) decided to go out in style. He removed the front doors from their hinge plates and backed his pickup into the store. He then did a neutral drop so he could burn rubber all over the floor. Unfortunately, it caused the rear end of the truck to fishtail and he tore up the doorway and the side of his truck bed. His practical joke 'cost him' about $8,000, although when I left a year later we still hadn't actually collected anything from him. The video was truly priceless, though... even the owners had to laugh.

Paul in Cannon Beach

I thought I recognized you in that Qwiki Mart video.