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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to keep my mobile phone on at work

70 replies

crazedupmom · 01/02/2012 01:03

I work as bank staff so I could be at a number of establishments.
Its impossible to give one number for people to call me in a family emergency.
I therefore give everyone my mobile number.
I have a child at school who suffers from IBS and a number of occasions they have had to ring me because he hasn,t been well.
He is also making his own way to school in the mornings I need to know he can get me in a emergency.
The company I work for are not allowing them on the premises.
What are your thoughts on this.

OP posts:
floweryblue · 01/02/2012 01:22

As a boss, none of my staff need a mobile when they are at work for their work. I find mobile phones very intrusive, I don't and won't have one myself.

I understand that you would like to keep emergency lines of communication open to your children, but what did you do when you were at school?

Did you die because your parents were at work and not immediately at your beck and call?

I can't imagine any workplace would deny a teacher/carer a phone connection to anyone who might be able to let you know in case of emergency. The trouble with the way communications are going these days is that we feel entitled to know the cat has sneezed, oh and the loo roll in the bathroom has run out, and did you speak to Aunty Betty about Christmas.

Some things can wait, for the rest we have normal land lines and intelligent colleagues able to judge whether a telephone message is urgent/important/mundane.

youngermother1 · 01/02/2012 01:24

I would say as long as you can check for messages in breaks, no problem. the school will be able to deal with the issue between call and getting message.

MarjorieAntrobus · 01/02/2012 01:41

Keep it in your handbag on silent and check it in the loo in your break.

Or

Make sure school has your employer's number; presumably it is an agency and they will know where you have been sent that day and will be able to get in touch with you if there is a genuine emergency. [You said you are bank staff and at first I thought you worked for a bank (!) but I think it's a nursing bank kind of thing. Might be wrong.]

ComposHat · 01/02/2012 01:57

Make sure your children's school know the score and then check your phone at break/lunch times. If he has to sit /lie down in the school medical room for a couple of hours it won't kill him.

Are you agency based? Can't the school have the agency number for use in an emergency. I can't see any reasonable employer not getting in touch with you out on site, if your son had a life threatening emergency.

troisgarcons · 01/02/2012 04:49

My phone lives in my bra on vibrate. Cheap thrill Grin but it works.

HungryHelga · 01/02/2012 04:56

Buy a cheap PAYG phone and only give the number to the school, no-one else.

troisgarcons · 01/02/2012 04:58

How does that help the Op when she isn't allowed to have a phone?

Piffpaffpoff · 01/02/2012 06:25

Presumably so the OP could then make a case to the boss for an exception to the rules, on the basis that the phone would/could only ring if it was the school as only they have the number?

keepingupwiththejoneses · 01/02/2012 08:38

Sorry I don't have any constructive advice. This sort of rule drives me mad. Unless there is a real reason for it, and I don't mean just because they don't like them, I do no understand why a company would ban mobiles. I think places and people who are determined not to have one are just holding themselves back and probably losing out. As for the 'What did you do when you were at school?
Did you die because your parents were at work and not immediately at your beck and call?' that is just pathetic. Mobile phones are part of modern day life.

shesparkles · 01/02/2012 08:46

To the OP, YADNBU!! I had a major barney with my boss about this very thing a few days ago.
I'm my dad's carer, and various agencies etc have my mobile number as my contact. Dad is 76, lives alone, and has mobility and balance problems which result in falls. And he had surgery last week. My boss picked the wrong day to take issue with my phone being in my pocket!
Although I work in the same building all the time, I'm not always on the same phone extension.
Due to previous cock ups with care arrangements for my late mum, I'm not taking any chances with giving out multiple contact numbers "just in case"-it just gives scope for confusion and further cock ups.
I need to escalate the issue to his boss-oh joy

LaurieFairyCake · 01/02/2012 08:54

I can't have my phone on at work (counsellor) and I look after a child in care - the school will have to either keep her in the nurses room or act in her interests if they needed to call an ambulance.

The maximum I am not contactable for is 3 hours and after that I check my phone. In some jobs it is just not possible to be entirely contactable.

Keep your phone off the premises in your car and check it in breaks - it is a reasonable request if you're nursing/caring staff I think.

Theunincredibles · 01/02/2012 09:10

YANBU. At the age of 2 my daughter was rushed to hospital unconscious. I was working multi site at the time so had no direct contact number. It was 2 hours before I found the messages and I was 2 hours away from the hospital. Luckily she recovered after a few weeks, but ever since my phone has been on vibrate in my pocket. I have only ever had one boss who said no, but as he was always in his office we agreed my phone could stay in there and if it rang he would come to get me.

olgaga · 01/02/2012 09:32

I'm not sure they can stop you bringing your phone in, if it's turned off in your bag or pocket who would know anyway? Keep it turned off, and check it during breaks. Realistically, how long do you have to work before you would have a break to check it? The world won't end because you can't be contacted for a couple of hours.

There's no way I can respond to calls while I'm working, 3 hours or so at a time. I couldn't just drop everything and whiz to the school anyway, no-one can, unless it's a genuine medical emergency (as opposed to someone feeling poorly). Schools expect you to come when you can, and will take whatever action is necessary until you can be there.

squeakytoy · 01/02/2012 09:35

Many companies ban mobiles because of the data protection act, due to the phones having camera and recording facilities on them.

TroublesomeEx · 01/02/2012 09:41

When I was teaching, I would keep my mobile switched to silent in my bag.

It wasn't appropriate for me to have it 'on' whilst I was working, but I did need to know if I had been contacted and checked during breaks.

It's too simplistic to say "how did it work before mobile phones?" because clearly we did manage, but nowadays because the vast majority of people do have them, the expectation on the part of others is that everyone is immediately contactable.

I'm increasingly finding that people send me emails that require an immediate response. So many people have smart phones now that they can respond to emails as quickly as text messages. I don't have a smart phone and check my emails once or twice a day, often to find that I've received a very urgent one.

PushyDad · 01/02/2012 09:43

Why don't u divert your calls to the office extension that you are at? This is of course assuming that you have an outside line number. If that isn't possible then you can get some really small and thin phones these days. Vibrate Mode still makes a noise so u can set it on silent and discretely check it now and then.

The OP doesn't say in what capacity she works but some banking departments ban mobile phones because in the past there have been banking scandals that involved insider dealing. The bank needs to know who you are talking to and what you are talking about.

If this is the case then the OP needs to be very careful. I mean, it is not the boss/bank being funny or petty. There is a legal reason for the ban and if you get caught .....

NinkyNonker · 01/02/2012 09:44

I've never not been allowed a mobile. Apart from anything else, what will they do? Frisk you on the way in? Keep it in your bag on silent or off and only check it on breaks/lunch. That time is yours anyway so do what you will with it.

burlesquemama · 01/02/2012 10:21

my son has asthma, so carrying a mobile at all times is non-negotiable, as far as i'm concerned. Ask for the company's policy on personal mobile phones - if they have one...

Did you die because your parents were at work and not immediately at your beck and call? - Hmm There is a world of difference between a medical emergency (especially as most schools aren't allowed to treat pupils anymore), and your mate ringing you up for a chat...

GrendelsMum · 01/02/2012 10:26

One problem we have in the office is that you may know that your mobile is only for emergencies, but your family and friends don't necessarily know that.

One colleague has his phone with him and on at all times, in case there's a family emergency - but the amount of people that 'just phone for a chat' during the working day is truly bizarre.

OnlyANinja · 01/02/2012 10:28

Y may or may not BU

It really depends on what your job is, who you are working with, if you are working with the public or with clients or only with people within your organisation.

redridingwolf · 01/02/2012 10:41

Get a pager? They are cheap, and you can just give the number to the school. Then, if it goes off, you would have to find a payphone / company phone to call from.

PushyDad · 01/02/2012 10:49

Do pagers still exist? Shock

TotemPole · 01/02/2012 11:05

I'd combine a couple of the suggestions.

Get cheap PAYG mobile and give that to the school for emergencies.
Then divert the calls your place of work. Change the setting for each placement.

OP said bank staff, someone else suggests that means agency. So if it's nursing/hospital based then banning mobiles would be reasonable.

2rebecca · 01/02/2012 11:07

I think switched on mobiles are intrusive if you are working. I agree that the school should have a contact number for you though and would discuss this with your employer explaining your place of work changes and work hours as bank staff. I suspect doing what many of us do and keeping your mobile on silent and just glancing at it now and then for messages would be fine.
Agree a pager is another possibility and only your child, the school and your husband should need that. Most extended family "emergencies" should involve calling 999 and telling you about it when you finish work.

OlympicEater · 01/02/2012 11:23

DH and I both have this problem. He works in an environment with flammable stuff, I work in a care home.

Schools have an alternative emergency contact (my sister) in the event that we are both uncontactable, my phone stays on silent in my bag and I check it when I can and respond to messages accordingly.

Things were different when we were at school, but because the world has moved on, expectations are different and it is assumed that everyone is immediately contactable, whereas if we were poorly at school, we didn't have a home phone and parents didn't drive, so we just stayed in the sick room til the bus arrived.

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