phone policy at work

[ChablisLover]

hi

can anyone give me an idea of how mobile phones and private use work in your office? Trying to figure out a policy that is workable for all

Thanks

[RevsDeCub]

Open plan office. Mobile phones can be on our desks in case of emergency calls but using them to text/phone/etc isn't allowed and we need to use the 'break out area'.
Seems reasonable to me!

[2ndSopranosRule]

Mix of open plan and smaller offices. Due to the type of department we are we can't nip out and use phones elsewhere. I don't think we have a phone policy and noone takes the mickey. We'll makes calls at breaks or lunch and it's fine to make and receive the odd text.

Not sure if the fact at 36 I'm one of the youngest in the department has anything to do with it.

[Kerberos]

Where I work there are no restrictions on mobile phone usage. Most of us have company mobile phones.

We are allowed to make personal calls within reason on our mobiles. Invoices are itemised and top bills are called out to management. If we travel internationally even on holiday the company pays for calls again as long as we are reasonable in phone usage.

[EBearhug]

I have a work mobile, mostly for when I'm on-call or working off-site. I also have my own mobile, because it means I don't feel guilty about doing non-work stuff. We also have landlines (well, those of us with fixed desks do,) and I have used that for personal calls. The odd call to the doctor or bank or something isn't an issue. Someone was sacked for making long chatty calls to family back in India, though...

I do think there should be a policy where people who do not recognise that mobile phones are mobile and also can be put to silent should have a suitable punishment if they leave it on their desk when they are not at their desk, and it goes off. Particularly if they have a loud and annoying ringtone.

[BackforGood]

It depends a lot on the staff in your team.

Where I work, most of us are old enough to cope without a mobile in our hands all the time, and, if there is the odd call or text on a personal phone, then we know it is something crucial.
Then someone new joined the team, who seems to think it's acceptable to regularly be making calls to people to make arrangements, or just 'nip onto the internet' to watch something unfolding on the news, etc., all of which probably adds up to a considerable % of her working hours. ........ It's prompted a suggestion that we might now all have to have our mobiles switched off and in our bags / lockers whilst at work.

I don't want to generalise, but it seems that many younger folk (and I'd include my ds in this, but not my dd, so know it's not all youngsters) don't realise quite how much of their time is taken up by constantly having their phones in their hands. If I employed ds, then I'd definitely have a 'no phones in the work area' policy.

[Skiptonlass]

Personal calls allowed but you're expected to be reasonable - I've worked in open plan offices where people take multiple private calls a day and it's infuriating and unprofessional. If I need to actually speak to someone on the phone I will go into my office and shut the door. If I worked in open plan I'd expect to nip out into the corridor or a vacant office.

Phones allowed on desks but again, reasonable usage - I tend to ping a few texts back and forth with dh along the lines of 'pick up some milk will you? ' but I'm not sat on it all day.

When travelling, we are allowed reasonable personal calls. If youve been sent to the USA for a week, it's not unreasonable to have a ten minute call home every day to check in.

If you need to put a policy together for your workplace I'd use the 'reasonable usage without disturbing own or others work' line. And I'd follow it up with examples of what's classed as reasonable in an email to staff (probably little scenarios like "Beth is expecting an urgent call from her sons nursery - she keeps her phone on and goes away from the open plan area when they call." " Sandra wants to arrange a night out with friends/her mother calls to say hello, she lets them know that she's at work and calls them back during her break." )

And absolutely no ringtones/text tones going off all day. The only justification for having a tone on is if you're waiting for something urgent.

[MissCalamity]

If I had my way I'd have all mobiles on vibrate/silent. They can be on desks. If a call has to be answered, for example childcare, then that person has to go out of the office to take the call. If it's their best mate ringing for a catch up then the call should be ignored & caught up with on a break/lunch.

When the employee is on a break/lunch & they stay at their desks to eat, they need to go out of the office to make the calls.

There are a few culprits in my office & it drives me insane

[EBearhug]

Not vibrate if the phone is literally on the desk. That's as bad as a ringtone.

[NoDramaForTheLlama]

Mobile phone use is allowed during the day - obviously as long as you're still getting work done etc. We all work flexi hours though and none of us will take lunch breaks/tea breaks.my workplace is quite relaxed.

[KenDoddsDadsDog]

Mobile phones in lockers unless you have acompany mobile . Very strict due to the amount of customer data we have access to. We have tiny phone lockers. Lots of places I know have the same policy. I barely use my company mobile at work as we do a lot over Lync .

[InanimateCarbonRod]

Wow you lot work in positively Dickensian environments.

Punish the one taking the piss. As long as the work is being done by the others whit punish them for one eejit who isn't mature enough to know when it's too much. Wrap on the knuckles and move on.

[EBearhug]

Wow you lot work in positively Dickensian environments.

Not necessarily - it could be people work with sensitive, confidential data, and no personal calls means no risk of things being overheard. Or they might be in a customer-facing job like shop work, some catering, teaching, nursing, where it would only ever be appropriate to take personal calls in a break.

[KenDoddsDadsDog]

You wouldn't be saying that if someone took a photo of all your personal details , bank account , credit rating and nicked it.

[BackforGood]

I don't think it's Dickensian at all.
When you are at work, you should be working.
The whole "in case there's an emergency" thing is a weak argument too - how do you think the world kept turning when we didn't have mobile phones?
Your dcs schools can phone the office landline in the rare case of an emergency. In truth, if that's all people were using their phones for, then it wouldn't be an issue, but, like so many things in life, too many people taking the mick mean there have to be rules imposed upon everyone.

[chrome100]

We don't have any rules. People are professional and know not to take the piss. We can take and make short personal calls and send texts.

[WeAllHaveWings]

Open office environment.

Only written rules we have is ring tones should not be distracting or offensive so most people turn their phones to vibrate only.

Unwritten rule is we are expected to be professional and only have quick calls/text if needed, not chat or use facebook in office area. If you need to have a conversation find somewhere quiet to do it.

[GnomeDePlume]

Just remember that 'you are what you measure'.

If you impose strict policies then management time ends up having to be spent enforcing those policies.

My boss was very strict (phones in desk, only to be looked at when at lunch etc). It built resentment especially when it was combined with an attitude that staff should 'go the extra mile'.

[GaryBaldy]

Small company, very relaxed, I have a work mobile that I use for all my personal stuff.

Boss is easily distracted and so will often show me something on Facebook while I am trying to work, so he is fine with us using phone for personal stuff on the basis that we all do way more hours than we are contracted to do.

[squidgyapple]

Where I am there's no restrictions, though we have very little time to actually make calls. Friends that work with the public generally have a no mobiles policy.
I once had a hairdresser ask if I minded if she took a call on her mobile - I said I didn't mind - she was midway through cutting my hair and I didn't want a crap haircut!

But actually I did mind, it was v poor customer service, and I just didn't go back to her after that.

[ChablisLover]

oops - completely forgot I started this thread in all the confusion of hacking and changing and forgetting passwords

Thanks all