Confiscation of mobiles and personal property

[Bluestar_Galaxy]

Anyone know what the rules are here? I dont have facebook on my fone and rarely txt while at work unlike many members of staff, yesterday myself and two other members of staff had phones confiscated for the duration of the shift, mine also went missing for half an hour after my shift, whats the rules here? im assuming this is theft? and if my phone had been lost or damaged they would have had to pay for a replacement?? thanks in advance all!!! xx

[Bang!]

For them to confiscate it - they must have seen it to know you had it.

 

Its dependent upon your work contract and pretty much common sense.

 

Taking a phone to return later is not 'theft' as the Theft Act ?1968? (applying in England & Wales) defines 'taking with the intention of permanently depriving'. In Scotland theft is common law so based more on previous decisions.

 

Losing/failing to return a phone that had been 'confiscated' would create a liability to replace the phone.

 

Potentially taking a smart phone could put the company in possession of data they had no right to possess under their DPA registration. You could check if you want to ****stir/be fired.

 

I'm on my unconfiscated mobile - so its a pain to look things up

[Browncow]

Anyone know what the rules are here? I dont have facebook on my fone and rarely txt while at work unlike many members of staff, yesterday myself and two other members of staff had phones confiscated for the duration of the shift, mine also went missing for half an hour after my shift, whats the rules here? im assuming this is theft? and if my phone had been lost or damaged they would have had to pay for a replacement?? thanks in advance all!!! xx

 

 

The most I ever do at work is press a button to check my e-mails on my phone and I do not stop working to do this.

 

All other staff members have phones visible and they make calls and text.

 

I think the making calls is dangerous as you can be accused of not working and attending to personal matters. The same goes for texting.

 

Checking e-mails and browsing web on own phone I think more acceptable provided the time span is really short. For example, I do not read the e-mails, I just look at the message list and I would not be doing that if I did not have urgent business with solicitor. I would tend to wait for a break to do any sort of web search as phones tend to be a bit slow.

 

 

I like to avoid using company e-mail for anything personal and I would never let them catch me making any sort of personal internet search.

However, I do not think it reasonable that I be cut off from my personal e-mail and text messages while at work.

 

I cannot take or make personal phone calls on the company phone system so I must have a means of being contactable by family or anyone else in case something urgent crops up.

[assisted blonde]

Why were the phones taken off you? what sort of work do you do? in some types of employment you would not be allowed to carry a phone with you. Where was the phone kept? had you been previously warned about using your phone during working hours?

[Bluestar_Galaxy]

I work in a restaurant, it was quiet at the time so I replied to a txt i had been sent, similar for the other staff member, by a manger who checks her phone all the time!! I like the dpa thing!! ive done almost ten years, almost got a new job so will work both concurrently and really let loose on them! and no not been warned before....i have no landline and no way of being contacted in an emergency other than phone.....

[Bang!]

There is a good chance a restaurant may not even have DPA registration.

 

Out of curiosity, did you ever get a contract for working there?

[Browncow]

I work in a restaurant, it was quiet at the time so I replied to a txt i had been sent, similar for the other staff member, by a manger who checks her phone all the time!! I like the dpa thing!! ive done almost ten years, almost got a new job so will work both concurrently and really let loose on them! and no not been warned before....i have no landline and no way of being contacted in an emergency other than phone.....

 

I notice that many colleagues spend their breaks on their mobiles and very often they are talking to their kids and or whoever is their child minder. It is unreasonable to expect workers to be incommunicado at work.

 

In the good old days the employer let you make any local phone call you wanted provided the timespan was short. Also phone calls were not recorded as they are in many work places now.

 

Nowadays making a personal phone call without express permission can invoke disciplinary procedures so workers are obliged to bring along their own equipment. Ironically, management often rely on personal mobile numbers when they want staff cover and are quite happy to text workers when it is in their interests .

Edited April 28, 2012 by Browncow

[Bang!]

If Art 8, ECHR sees fit to protect the right to a family life - then you would expect it to filter down to employers not locking up adults' phones.

 

OK, if its Burger King and the burgers are going cold due to schoolie part timers txtin LOL, you can see the point, but for anyone with family responsibilities, it just seems like taking the p***.

[stu007]

Hi

 

Raises a few points this for me:

 

1. Did the Boss confiscate these phones with the employees consent?

2. Did the Boss give a reasons for the confiscation of the phones?

3. Did the Boss give the employees a reciept for the phones as personal property to employees?

4. Did the Boss Show/Inform the employees where the phones would be safely secured for the duration of the confiscation period (they were stored in a safe, secure, locked location)?

5. Did the Boss ask the employees to remove the phones battery and simcard before confiscation? (this way no simcard and battery phone cant be accessed during confiscation period as employee has these)

6. Did the Boss give the employee a warning to put phone away for rest of shift before confiscation?

 

I do think this Boss has been a bit daft here and since the employees got there phones back i am surprised there phones aint playing up, having problems when they were working perfectly when the Boss took them but not when they got them back.

[Bluestar_Galaxy]

yes i have a contract, but its the same generic stuff that gives the company all the rights and nothing for the employee....i dont normally use my phone, as a previous post said its the schoolies that normally do...

 

1, no consent given by employee

2, no reason given over than being caught with it on shift

3, no reciept

4, they go in the office, which is not as secure as it should be

5, battery left on and sim card in phone

6, no

 

In terms of dpa at the restaurent its laughable, our wage slips get left all over the place, with our bank details, ni numbers and addy details for anyone that wants them, when ur geting cashed off in the office sensitive info such as disciplinary notes, sick notes customer complaints etc are often in full view.....ts really frustrating because i could complain but would only result in less hours of discipliary procedures.....urgh!! x

[Surfer01]

I don't think they have the right to confiscate any of your private property especially one that contains personal data. How would you know if they had accessed any of that data or read any texts or emails?

[Bluestar_Galaxy]

thats what i thought!! question is what can be done without inviting reprisals from the employer? im thinking an annon email to head office might do the trick.....

[Bang!]

But does it have a head office, or is it more like a family run concern (such as most Indian/Italian restaurants).

 

The original 'confiscation' made it sould like McDs and schoolies, but the 'personal records' points to perhaps it not even being a ltd company.

[Bluestar_Galaxy]

its a well know pizza chain with a big HQ, Pizza "cabin" lol so they should deffo have procedures in place for things like dpa but on a store level, everything is flaunted......this is just one issue of many...incuding illegal cash short recovery, breach of health and safety, breach of working time directives etc.....problem is no way to highlight all this with the relevant evidence to actually egt something done....I did hear from someone that you can make a complaint to the department of work and pensions? and they investigate for breaches of employment law and take action where appropriate??

[green_and_mean]

Is there a policy against using phones at work? If so I would have thought having the phone taken away if caught using it is better than getting the boot for misconduct. Surely the business must have a phone so if there is an emergency at home they can phone your work place. People have managed to survive for years without the need to be contactable 24/7 I don't see why its any different now? If the phone was just removed from your personal belongings without your permission in the rest room or similar whilst you were not there then that is a slightly different matter.

[honeybee13]

its a well know pizza chain with a big HQ, Pizza "cabin" lol so they should deffo have procedures in place for things like dpa but on a store level, everything is flaunted......this is just one issue of many...incuding illegal cash short recovery, breach of health and safety, breach of working time directives etc.....problem is no way to highlight all this with the relevant evidence to actually egt something done....I did hear from someone that you can make a complaint to the department of work and pensions? and they investigate for breaches of employment law and take action where appropriate??

 

Hello again.

 

I'm not sure that is what the DWP are there for. Others will correct me, but my understanding is that breaches of employment law are more likely to emerge via an ET.

 

If there are H&S breaches, you want the HSE. If it's hygiene, I think it's environmental health.

 

Is this still part of your campaign to cause maximum grief before you depart?

 

My best, HB

[Sidewinder]

It is quite simple. The employer can make any reasonable request or impose any reasonable condition whilst you are being paid to engage in work! If they have a rule that says you may not carry or use a mobile whilst at work, then that is their right.

 

However, I do not think it reasonable that I be cut off from my personal e-mail and text messages while at work[/Quote]

 

It is more than reasonable if the employer has such a condition. If anybody needs to get hold of you in an emergency then it would be your responsibility to notify those close to you of your employer's phone number. The exception to this would be where you are perhaps a mobile employee without access to a landline.

 

The employer should provide lockers or some other form of secured storage where personal possessions may be left - for example money as many places of work, particularly in retail do not allow you to have money whilst on the shop floor.You should be allowed access to your personal property, and be allowed to use phones whilst on a break, but during work time, it is not unreasonable that customers should not see staff distracted by answering texts, updating Facebook statuses or having personal phones ringing. If the employer does not provide a locker, then the security of your property whilst they have it in their possession is down to them.

 

Article 8 does extend to an employee's rights to access personal matters whilst at work, but only tentatively, so use of a personal phone in a break, or ability to access personal email, whilst on a break, would satisfy this.

 

Any matters relating to hygiene OR Health & Safety would go to Environmental Health in teh first instance, but they do not do employment law in the respect that you are considering. For that, it would be an Employment Tribunal having firstly lodged a grievance, so if you are being denied access to your phone in YOUR time, then raise a grievance.

[rambo]

Must admit, i'm with the employer on this one.

Nothing worse than going into a shop/restaurant and the staff are looking at thier phones.

 

Sad that people can't live without thier phones.

[Browncow]

It is quite simple. The employer can make any reasonable request or impose any reasonable condition whilst you are being paid to engage in work! If they have a rule that says you may not carry or use a mobile whilst at work, then that is their right.

 

 

 

It is more than reasonable if the employer has such a condition. If anybody needs to get hold of you in an emergency then it would be your responsibility to notify those close to you of your employer's phone number. The exception to this would be where you are perhaps a mobile employee without access to a landline.

 

The employer should provide lockers or some other form of secured storage where personal possessions may be left - for example money as many places of work, particularly in retail do not allow you to have money whilst on the shop floor.You should be allowed access to your personal property, and be allowed to use phones whilst on a break, but during work time, it is not unreasonable that customers should not see staff distracted by answering texts, updating Facebook statuses or having personal phones ringing. If the employer does not provide a locker, then the security of your property whilst they have it in their possession is down to them.

 

Article 8 does extend to an employee's rights to access personal matters whilst at work, but only tentatively, so use of a personal phone in a break, or ability to access personal email, whilst on a break, would satisfy this.

 

Any matters relating to hygiene OR Health & Safety would go to Environmental Health in teh first instance, but they do not do employment law in the respect that you are considering. For that, it would be an Employment Tribunal having firstly lodged a grievance, so if you are being denied access to your phone in YOUR time, then raise a grievance.

 

I would agree with most of what you say but not the bit about workers being contactable by phoning the employer. It simply might not be possible to get through. For example, if the phone lines in the restaurant are used for taking orders and the manager is on the phone.

 

I had someone come to my place of work to deliver a personal message and even though I had notified the appropriate person that they were coming and given them my mobile number they came, waited and left without my being contacted. The explanation I got was "we could not find you". I doubt that any urgent personal message would be delivered to me via the ever ringing phone system.

[green_and_mean]

I would agree with most of what you say but not the bit about workers being contactable by phoning the employer. It simply might not be possible to get through. For example, if the phone lines in the restaurant are used for taking orders and the manager is on the phone.

 

I had someone come to my place of work to deliver a personal message and even though I had notified the appropriate person that they were coming and given them my mobile number they came, waited and left without my being contacted. The explanation I got was "we could not find you". I doubt that any urgent personal message would be delivered to me via the ever ringing phone system.

 

Heaven forbid work getting in the way of your personal life, what is the world coming to!

[Browncow]

Heaven forbid work getting in the way of your personal life, what is the world coming to!

Hardly a serious comment.

[green_and_mean]

Hardly a serious comment.

 

Ok on a more serious note what about train drivers, pilots, miners, air traffic controllers, 999 operators, doctors, nurses, production line workers, armed forces etc etc how many of these are allowed to chat to friends and family while working??

[assisted blonde]

I for one would do not appreciate going into a restaurant bar etc and seeing staff looking at mobiles texting etc it is very rare that somthing is so important that it cannot be dealt with during breaks and as for someone being on the landline making a booking, try again a couple of minutes later.

I have got to say i am on the employers side when they say no mobiles while working, but i do agree that there should be a secure place to leave property such as a locker, what about handbags or coats where are they left?

[green_and_mean]

I for one would do not appreciate going into a restaurant bar etc and seeing staff looking at mobiles texting etc

 

Indeed and its not just texts now its tweeting, updating facebook, emails and online shopping during work hours, drives me up the wall!!

[Bluestar_Galaxy]

I agree with most of the above posts, most people i knjow dont have my work number so a mobile is the only way people can contact me, i agree that you shouldt use your phone at work and i rarely do like some people i work with and it was an isolated instance, what i dont appreciate or agree with is being treated like a child, and yes honeybee i intend to raise as many issues and grienvences before i leave as possible, it just really annoys me that they get away with soooo many things on technicalitys and theres nothing we can do about it.....i like the dpa thing tho, have mad a note of it......thanks all xxxx