Breaks and personal phones - advice/opinions

[OrangeSunset]

Not an issue, yet. Just seeking some advise/opinions.

I manage a small team and have two ‘niggles’ to iron out.

Some have work and personal phones, some have only work phones which they use for personal too.
Breaks - we have been fairly informal about breaks, some people always have one, some people never do, work through lunch and leave ‘earlier’. This results in an exodus quite early in my opinion. As an aside, I feel that those who are still working 4pm-6pm end up more ‘up against it’ than those who start work 7.30am to 9am as the tasks of the day need finishing.

Team has grown significantly in last year. And we now have young people in the team. I want to ensure we are being fair, consistent and meeting business need. And that we are setting clear expectations for new folk.

Some comments have been made by others re personal phones and use during the day. Some of the personal phone users have been asked to put them away, but in return have pointed out that others have personal stuff on their work phones. Fair enough.

What I want to do is the following;
Personal phones away except for at breaks. Clarity for those with one handset that they aren’t expected to use it for personal reasons except at breaks in interests of fairness.
A mandatory break of at least 30mins away from desk except in exceptional circs. For some this will mean getting to work 30mins earlier or staying 30mins later than they do currently. We do 8 hr day excl breaks.

All the above covered by contracts and policies. BUT it is a change to the way we have done things.

First, am I being reasonable? Two, how do I do this without p’ing everyone off?

Genuine question
Why don’t you ask them? Don’t you have scheduled team time to work these things through? When a team gets bigger sometimes ‘rules’ need reviewing when there has been informality preciously.

FWIW I think work phones should be only for work.

I think the real problem is with meeting deadlines. Once you've sorted out meetings I'd leave phones alone for now.

It's too hard to differentiate between who is using business phones and who is personal. Plus if you've got great efficient workers- who happen to check in on their family or whatever on whatsapp a few times a day then I don't really see a problem.

If individuals aren't meeting productivity targets I'd look at them individually.

Ok so you basically have a total mix of different interpretations of your policies.

The problem is that the work at the end of the day is not getting done? Or that the people who work later hours are being left with the shit jobs?

I think in this situation you need to have a team meeting, and put up the 'non-negotiables'.
A - some people are not taking lunches, but a 20 minute break is actually the law so that can't be allowed going forward.
B - some people have work phones and use them for personal and some have work and personal phones, so the personal phone use needs to not interfere with work times.
C - in amongst the different times, how are the team going to sort themselves out so that the end of the day shit work isn't always left to the people who work later.

If they can't work out a system amongst themselves then you will be forced to step in, put more stringent performance plans in to manage this and that will just take more time on everyone's behalf.

So: how can they resolve it amongst themselves so that the people with personal phones are not felt as if they are being hassled and the ones with work phones aren't getting upset when they might well be doing the same thing on theirs, and the ones who work earlier are not taking the piss out of the ones who work later.

Flowery I completely agree, I've taken notifications off pretty much everything as I find it so distracting. Personal preference of course but if one group are seeing notifications pop up every 2 mins and getting distracted and one group are not, I'm pretty confident the second group are more productive. I'm sure there are studies of that nature.

Interesting that so many people feel that having a 'rule' about phones would be damaging. Presumably most of your workplaces have a dress code and everyone abides by that...I'm not sure I see much of a difference.

And pretty much all phones can be configured to allow messages/calls through from key people/emergency, but not random chit-chat.

Those I don't trust as much do their baseline job, but if given an opportunity, I perceive they may not do the work on time, or may leave before it's finished etc. I think the second group are noticing that the first group are getting more opportunities by being, well, better.

Are you reflecting back to them why they are not getting these opportunities and mentoring them to be able to do so?

In our organisation we have a motto which is 'manage them up or manage them out'. We are basically not allowed to just let them fester.

Interesting that so many people feel that having a 'rule' about phones would be damaging. Presumably most of your workplaces have a dress code and everyone abides by that...I'm not sure I see much of a difference

You have fucked up the ability to have this rule by letting people use work phones for personal use. You need to ban 'personal use' not 'personal phones' in work time and allow it only on break time. Subtle difference. The problem is how can you manage that with people who use work phones for personal use? You basically can't.

I would say that you run the risk here of breaking some laws (gdpr and display screen equipment)
I feel work phones should not be for personal use at all, and breaks away from the computer should be mandatory, assuming the staff are using screens.
As for personal phones, adults should be able to be trusted not to take the piss. If they can't be then you need to have a word with the individuals.

Tentacle that's a bit harsh, it's a company-wide approach to phones, not a decision I have made within one team. It's been that way for many years.

However I will feedback to HR that the policy needs to be clearer for those with one handset and that personal use during work time must be at a minimum. However, in other areas of our organisation, it is not allowed at all except at breaks (due to the nature of the role). So HR will have a challenge to design a policy that fits this team and others.

With regards to feedback on opportunities, I will have to find a way of wording this. I don't have a problem with people coming in and doing the job they are paid to do, not everyone needs to be managed up. I do, though, have a problem with those people resenting the people who are on a more upward trajectory due to their attitude.

Also, we work a long week. 40 hours is hard, and I don't think anyone should be expected to routinely do longer hours to get opportunities. It's more about attitude than time 'served' surely.

Borderline how might we be breaking GDPR? We don't handle customer data or anything similar.

I do agree about screens - hence my intention to insist on a break away. We have a perfectly nice social space to sit and eat with others or solo.

Any data you hold on any living person is affected. Someone using a company phone (with other employees' or suppliers' details stored possibly?) for personal use sounds risky. Of course I don't know the details it was just a comment and my personal opinion.

For example if work and personal emails are running at same time there is a risk of misuse or confusion of data, telephone numbers woukd be stored in same address book. Are phones passcode protected? Do you have a risk assessment for data held on them?

We can general only use phones at break times. Contacting your OH to see how your child settled into nursery or what to buy for dinner wouldn’t be acceptable in work time. If there was an emergency, it would be OK. We are not allowed to use company WiFi either. Breaks are unpaid and start and finish times are set for operational reasons. Staffing levels are carefully worked out. If you work through your break you still couldn’t leave early, apart from occasionally by prior arrangement. Is there somewhere where staff can sit during their breaks?

Daisy your post is music to my ears. I knew there were workplaces were 'rules' are more clear and, some would say, draconian, than I am contemplating.

Yes, there is a very nice kitchen to sit in, big table, sofa etc. Nice area to walk outside and picnic table if nice day.

LIZS phones are protected and we are able to wipe them remotely if lost/stolen. No risk assessment tho.

We've just always done this. As we don't have desk phones (spread across multiple locations) most roles are given a phone. In general, it's annoying to have 2 phones. And tariffs are so cheap that, no-one ever uses all their minutes for business and personal. It is a benefit that the staff get to use the handset whilst they are employed with us. And we are very clear that we take no responsibility for backing up personal photos etc.

We do charge people if they go over data.

"Flowery I completely agree, I've taken notifications off pretty much everything as I find it so distracting. Personal preference of course but if one group are seeing notifications pop up every 2 mins and getting distracted and one group are not, I'm pretty confident the second group are more productive. I'm sure there are studies of that nature. "

Yep, it's well-documented.

quick search revealed all these

It's just people get very funny about their phones and their entitlement to be permanently glued to them, so will insist it doesn't affect their productivity.

I'm just as bad as anyone. I have notifications popping up from LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Facebook, texts, emails, and I frequently stop what I'm doing to look, even glance down to see what it is. If MN did notifications my phone would be permanently popping things up!

I am fully aware it affects my productivity badly, because when I put my phone away in my bag for an hour or two, I get loads more done. It's my own lookout - I run my own business so if I allow myself to be unproductive it means I end up working at a weekend as I have been this morning, or in an evening. But if I were employing a team of people for x hours a day and they were getting paid x amount regardless of productivity, I would be Not Amused.

I’m making it sound more draconian than it is . Eg, if you went to make a cup of tea you could look at your phone then. But work is a very time-critical environment. Even seconds matter.

You seem to be confusing a whole bunch of issues. So let’s check if we can solve them simply?

1. Working time. At the moment some people leave on the dot at 4pm because they have other commitments. You’d like them to stay later to tidy up the end of the day work. Perhaps the people doing that end of the day stuff are happy with a later start/finish?

Could you introduce a flexi time system so Jenny who had kids in nursery and works her day around that can and Kate who hasn’t got kids can work long days covering early starts and/or late finishes but gets to take an extra day of leave with the extra time she worked?

Are you in a role where someone needs to cover the office at all times? Or are you just encouraging presenteism because you cant work out how else to manage?

Are deadlines assigned to people? Could more appropriate workflow management be the answer?

2. Phones. You don’t like people using them for personal reasons.

Frankly what you’re talking about is trying to manage one or two people who are taking the piss by creating a blanket ban. It’s a crap management technique, it upsets the people who aren’t causing an issue with it and you’ll create ill will.

Have you considered actually managing the people you’ve noticed this problem with? Have a look at how those people are performing. If your top performer is also whatsapping their mum/partner/kid/cat who cares? If it’s someone who is underperforming manage that issue and mention the phone use in that context.

OP I'm glad you're not my boss. You sound old fashioned but also very untrusting. It's a reflection of your management abilities that you can't sort this without making harsh rules that punishing everyone.

And when I say we’re not allowed to do this or that, it’s not that there are any written rules, it’s that it would be impossible to work. You can’t delay the job or do it earlier. You would have to ignore any phone calls until there’s a break.

I think you can’t force them to take a break

Well if you don't care about employment law, I suppose you could take that approach!

cupoftea that's a bit harsh - I've been open that a) I am asking advice so as to approach this properly and b) that it isn't easy being a manager and I have lots to learn. It's easy to criticise, isn't it.

daisy your 'check when I go to a cuppa' is exactly the kind of reasonable approach I think is fair. That's what I do.

Gemme am appreciative of some constructive thoughts, thank you. I don't want to people to work more than their hours, we do a long day anyway, and going through this reflection is opening to my eyes to the fact that I'm probably projecting the lack of performance on to something that is more binary i.e. leaving on the dot. Those who leave on the dot also are generally perform less well and are very defensive. That's the bit I need to tackle.

I will reiterate the breaks though for reasons of wellbeing, productivity, and as others have mentioned, employment law.

Presumably the personal use of the work phones is being declared to HMRC? It may be a taxable benefit ...

Youngsters today (ha! I'm 50) grew up with mobile phones. They've grown up with their friends on tap, conversations being had via technology at all times, and a habit (I'm loathe to use the word obsession) of knowing what other people are doing via social media. This is in huge contrast to my younger years, where you spoke to your friends after 6pm when phone calls were cheaper and you had 10 minutes to catch up on all their news and make plans before somebody else wanted to use the phone or connect the dial-up modem. It's a different world.

Ideally you'd want them to disable all notifications except for calls and SMS, which tend to need responses. But I see my younger colleagues scrolling through social media when they should be concentrating on their work ... Sorry, I'm going to use the word. It is an obsession. They need to know that it's not acceptable in the workplace. But the only way you can police it is to spot those abusing the situation and speak to them individually.

Please do consider the parents and those with pets and other responsibilities who will be affected if you enforce a 30 minute unpaid lunch when previously they were able to be flexible.

Yes, I suspect the flexitime some staff been working now has become part of their contract and not so simple to change unilaterally.

If you're worried about covering start and end times you'll need to implement a rota.