Question: What can I do about excessive cellphone use in the workplace?
Print this Article | Send to Colleague
Q&A with The Workplace Advisors – June 2024
Question: We allow employees to have their personal cell phones at their desks while they work but we have some who take advantage of this. One employee spends most of the day taking calls from her family and friends while another watches his favorite shows and Tik Tok videos while he is working. What can we do without penalizing those who use their cell phones only when needed?
Answer: Cell phones can cause major disruptions in the workplace. Ring and text tones can be loud and annoying; conversations or streamed content can be disruptive and not suitable for the workplace; and any time spent talking, texting, or watching is time not working or being productive.
You can expect employees to perform their job duties with minimal personal distractions during their work time. Address those that are creating issues with their cell phone use. Explain that this use is keeping them from meeting expectations and creating distractions preventing others from working effectively.
You can also consider offering meal and rest breaks and defining these as the only times employees can make calls, send texts, or stream content. By offering these breaks, you can reduce the during-work-time use except in emergencies.
Hopefully by addressing the specific behavior and offering defined times for use, you can control the disruptions without having to escalate to disciplinary action.
