To think employers shouldn't force staff to wear name badges? *title edited by MNHQ at OP's request*

[Starcup]

I can see benefit on the one hand. It creates a personal touch and if customer wants to identify an employer either to complain or show gratified then the name badge easily identifies them.

That said, in this day and age with social media and everything just one click away, should wearing a name bag de be a choice rather than compulsory?

It’s so easy to find people on social media these days, even just with a first name, it makes me uncomfortable that we are made to wear them. I’ve had friend requests off clients from my company, that wouldn’t know my surname, so I assume they’ve put I my first name and recognised me. (One guy sent me a request 7pm on the evening I seen him at 3pm at work) One of my colleagues has had this happen several times.

Even if they didn’t purposely search with the first name, if they came across a social media profile they wouldn’t necessarily know for sure if it was a particular staff member or not, but if the staff member wears a name badge that corresponds with the name on social media then it would make them identifiable.

Some people won’t mind but does anyone else not feel comfortable wearing a name badge at work?

I also notice a lot of people don’t use their real name on social media (or use a nick name so to prevent clients, customers, etc finding them)

Thoughts?

@Peas252

People could take personal responsibility for who has access to their social media accounts and what they post on them.

I agree with this as well, but also I disagree with name badges, when I was working in retail my name was sam.

When I was doing call work, my name was Jo

Neither are my name, but my name is (or was) unusual, especially the spelling

I was once stalked by a customer who got my name from a name badge. Found my Facebook and kept showing up at places I'd go frequently. I got him barred out and the warning from management stopped him, but might not have the next time. Hindsight I should gave gone to the police but I was naive at 18.

I refuse to wear one. There is absolutely no reason why customers need to know my name and quite frankly most would pronounce it wrong anyway.

@Pixiedust1234

My daughter hates having to wear a name badge at work, as do most of her female colleagues (in retail). Most badges are pinned close to the bust area and to have males purposely get close "to read" whilst leering at her boobs is beyond gross. If you have a problem with a staff member then get a manager and point them out...you dont need their name to do that.

I don't do pinned or sticker name badges anymore after a conference I attended and another delegate (male) asked me what the other one was called

@RedToothBrush

I don't think you should be forced to wear a name badge with your name on.

If they want to be able to identify you for a mystery shopper etc then they should give you a unique store name to avoid confusion with the other 6 Sarahs and so no one can harass you outside work.

Being forced to wear a name badge really is something that should bother women. Its not ok.

The whole idea of name badges is that people you interact with through work know who it is that they have spoken to. All nhs staff have to wear name badges. In fact as well as a photo id. badge, we all had to wear badges saying - Hello my name is (insert first name).

I think it is important that anyone customer/client/patient know who is dealing with them and I don’t see why women should be treated differently regarding this.

In fact, as well as 2 badges, we all had to have our photos taken and put on a board at the entrance to the ward, with our names and job titles underneath the photos!

@Peas252

People could take personal responsibility for who has access to their social media accounts and what they post on them.

It's not just social media though.

A colleague of mine got abusive mail from an ex-client sent to her home address. They'd traced her through the electoral register.

She was bricking it and fearful for her 11-year old DD. Work were looking into taking out an injunction but the client was sectioned before they ever got anywhere with it.

I used to have a name badge in my previous job , many of us would leave them in our pockets , as creepy men would let their eyes linger on the badge on the chest area and say your name in a creepy way .
But obviously the powers that be never had to experience this creepy behaviour .

I think it is important that anyone customer/client/patient know who is dealing with them and I don’t see why women should be treated differently regarding this.

Why is it important? If you were training staff adequately, informing them of policies and ensuring adequate supervision of staff, as used to be the norm, then they would know what to do. It is actually very easy to pick out staff who don't.

Women are different to men. They are in the lowest paid positions, they are treated like garbage, any industry that consists of women pays lower wages. They are sex objects who are sold and marketed everywhere around the world so that men can get their kicks, both sexual and power, through their helplessness. Name badges were asking for trouble. They enable any strange men who walk in to a building to believe that they know the woman in question and have rights over her.

If you insist on a name but don't require it to be actual name, why not issue a staff number and unique identifier instead?

A name badge plus ID pass were always requirements of my job and I never gave it a second thought until I was identified and followed by a man outside of work. I know it was work related because he knew my job. This was before social media but we had a photo board of all staff at my place of work and clearly creepy men were studying it at their leisure.

I can see why members of the public may want or need to identify individual members of staff but I think whatever system is used needs to provide protection for staff.

Where I worked years ago we used to have a board with a photograph of every member of staff and their full name. It was taken down.

When I was a casual waitress we picked a name badge out of a box 😇 and then signed it next to our realm name on the sign in sheet

Also creepy stares can be averted with a lanyard!

I'm NHS and when I'm on site, I have to wear a name badge stating my full name and job role. I don't think retail workers should have to, though.

On the other hand, if you don't want random friend requests, make sure your social media accounts are private.

@icedcoffees

Where I used to work you had to wear a name badge (so you could be identified for mystery shops) but you could pick whatever name you wanted, which I liked a lot

I had this! I was called Alicia for 2 years in a tourist attraction job, I liked getting to pick a fake name haha.

When I worked in a customer-facing role I had to wear a name badge but it only had our first names on. In one way that's disrespectful because should customers be on first name terms with you but on the other hand it's very difficult to find people if you don't have their surnames.

In fact a colleague in that job refused to have her surname on a badge before I joined because she had quite a distinctive surname.

on the other hand it's very difficult to find people if you don't have their surnames

on social media etc

My hairdresser told me that some of his colleagues used fake names at work, although I think that was more about choosing a more fashionable / stylish name eg Susan became Savannah

I rather like the idea of retail / hospitality workers using a fake name to protect privacy, especially nowadays

@BigFatLiar

We were required to wear badges/passes at work with both name and photo. We were however also expected to remove them when out side work and we didn't have members of the public on site.

Same, and I also use a ‘fake’ name on SM and don’t link my SM accounts - so the name and email address I use for FB are both different to Twitter, and I use a different burner email again for here etc. And I don’t use photos of myself for profile photos/avatars.

I have an interest in a male-dominated sport and am on a few FB groups following said sport; the number of unsolicited friend requests I get from men is ridiculous, even without an identifying profile photo. Always makes me wonder if they’re sending the same number to other men in the group (I think I can guess the answer…) Similarly when I worked in a bar when younger there were always a few creepy men who thought the barmaid’s services were included in the price of their pint and some tried to be very persistent - I actually ended up with a stalker for a few months which was terrifying.

Having had those experiences YANBU OP. I would hate it if I were public-facing and had to wear a name badge, and I’d only do it if I could use a fake name at work.

A colleague of mine got abusive mail from an ex-client sent to her home address. They'd traced her through the electoral register.

This wouldn't have happened if she'd opted to prevent her details appearing on the Open Register.
Very easy to do, there's a tick box on the vote registration form.

This wouldn't have happened if people weren't asshats and had common decency

There, corrected that for you @TeloMere

The only times I've been aware of people opting for a different client facing name has, unfortunately been for racial reasons, when they do not see the clients face to face.

It's sad,and it's only a minority of people, but if you're marketing to an older, slightly traditional demographic in, say, a white area like rural Aberdeenshire (just an example, not saying people from there are more racist than other areas), then they find they get a better response if they are Andy or Bruce than if they are Abdul or Yusuf.

We’re forced to wear name badges with our full name on which I hate. So for this reason I refused to have my photo on my staff profile on the website citing privacy concerns. I got some flack from management but I refused to budge. My old name badge broke a while back and when I ordered my new one I only requested my first name and so far no one has said anything.

@CovidPassQuestion

This wouldn't have happened if people weren't asshats and had common decency

There, corrected that for you @TeloMere

We can only control our own environment and choices so making sure all your social media is locked down when dealing with members of the public would make more sense surely, people have been asshats who lack common decency for time immemorial

At my last place we all had security passes with our photo and name. They were needed to open doors and turnstiles and we were expected to wear them. In addition those in public facing roles or helping at events were also expected to wear name badges. The security badges weren’t always easy to read.

I love the idea of being able to make up a name for your badge.

I have to wear a lanyard and ID with photo, full name, role and DBS number on as I work in schools. I guess it's not as much of an issue in schools as I'm not seeing random members of the public. However, I have had pupils trace me on social media before and once a pupil told me that she and her mum had seen photos of me doing a hobby that I thought were locked down on Facebook. So her mum had obviously looked me up with the child present

I now have my maiden name on all social media and use my married name at work so people can't find me. And they are as locked down as I can make them!