BOSSES have started confiscating smartphones to stop workers texting friends and posting on Facebook.
Managers are beginning to feel they can’t trust employees to resist the temptation to message pals and update their social media profiles.
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It has been common practice for retailers such as Tesco to ban phones but it now seems officer workers are being told to leave their devices in lockers too.
Unions have now warned that there is a “new front for friction” between bosses and workers, according to The Times.
“BREACHED HUMAN RIGHTS”
A marketing company director, based in West Yorkshire, recently admitted not hiring staff who would not hand over their phones.
Gerard O’Shaughnessy, 48, of Business Marketing Services in Cleckheaton, now confiscates people’s phones until lunchtime in a bid to increase productivity.
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He first took mobiles off his workers two months ago and said people have complained it “breached their human rights”.
Mr O’Shaughnessy told the paper: “We’ve had girls have complete meltdowns when they’ve come to work and been told they need to put their phone in a box.
“Others have said it’s almost breaching their human rights. It’s almost like a separation anxiety.
“When we didn’t have this policy in place people would be checking social media updates during staff meetings. They’re utterly addicted to their phones.”
“GIVE UP PHONES”
Meanwhile, staff members in the British Library cafe also have to give up their phones while nannies are being forced to sign contracts which state they won’t use them “during working hours”.
Mike Clancy, general secretary of Prospect trade union, said technology is fast becoming a “new front for friction between workers and organisations”.
He said: “Rigid controls over phone use, where no clear security and safety issues are involved, risks being rigid worker control, reflecting a culture that lacks trust.
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“Used in the right way tech has the power to be both empowering and to improve services and productivity.”
But we can’t let employers have total control over when, where, and how tech is used at work.”
Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, said: “Employers should treat staff like adults. Confiscating personal belongings is bad for trust and morale.”
Alex Monaco, senior partner at employment law firm Monaco Solicitors, told The Sun Online: “It’s a tough one because most people are genuinely addicted to their smartphones and I think that the government needs to step in.
“For alcohol and tobacco there are laws in place to protect you, but with smartphones there is nothing to help cure our addictions.
“On the other hand, from a human rights perspective, I’d argue that unless your contract states that your employer is able to confiscate your phone, then they can’t do that to you.”
Source: https://tholansonnha.com
Category: mobile
