What powers does my employer have?

[El Saxo]

Hey guys,

As some of you know I am royally ****ed off with my current job, but in the current climate, it pays the bills so I'm sticking it out while I look for something else...

Just recently though things are getting downright nasty and / or absurd.

The 'daily team brief' that my supervisor does every day is now turning into the 'daily team threat'. Ok, so a lot of the morons I work with behave like children all the time and only understand threats made in a manner that reminds me of high school, but the latest threat this morning really P'd me off. It was basically that they don't want anyone having personal mobile phones on their desk and if they spot people leaving their phone out, they will confiscate it?!? Personally I reckon my supervisor is talking out of his backside, surely they haven't got the power to confiscate personal property for no reason??

Can anyone please point me in the direction of some information that shows exactly what powers an employer has, cos I'd love to be able to shove it under his nose and contradict him if & when he tries to actually carry out any of this crap with me! :evil:

Thanks :)

[Bluepete]

Stop moaning and get back to work......

;)

[Baph]

Your employer has the right to dictate what can/cannot be on their desks, during work time.

Your employer has the right to establish a policy whereby mobile phones cannot be used (other than those supplied by the employer) during work hours. However, if you haven't had that policy written down, I personally wouldn't listen to it whatsoever.

What they don't have the right to do, is confiscate personal property. They can insist that you put it away in a pocket/bag etc, but they can't take it from you.

If you happen to leave your phone out & it gets confiscated, request that they give it back so that you can put it away. If they don't, point them towards The Theft Act (as it's actually theft). Give them time to read & digest it, then make the request again.

If they still don't give it back, tell them that you'll be talking to your Union rep/solicitor (or the police if there's no union).

[SV-net]

In my workplace we had a letter saying there is too much excessive use of personal mobile phones by way of text messaging. A select few really take the P and are still doing it like crazy. It stops them doing their job and sends a bad message to staff lower in status who now also have started to use their mobiles. I turn mine to silent, put it into my bag and check it whenever I have a break.
Some say they need it because the school might call for an emergency! But we have a private line installed and paid for by the company for this purpose. So they really dont need the mobile at all.
Excuse me everybody, but those of us who are lucky enough to still have a job should be pleased and should be trying to keep it. So we should do our job and not be frigging about on our mobile phones.
Rant over, now go ride your bikes for three days and chill out peeps;-)

[Dicky Ticker]

Keep it in your shirt pocket with an absurdly obscene ring tone and get somebody to ring you at regular intervals but don't answer it and when questioned ask if it is OK for you to accept personal calls on the business phone and put it on divert.
Alternatively leave it on your desk but switched off or on silent and if they go to touch it rap the naughty childs knuckles with a ruler
Sounds like you are being treated like a kid i.e no sweeties,no chewing gum etc.

[Bibio]

your employer pays you a wage to do a job.. not to sit talking/txt'ing/playing on your mobile... why should you have your mobile out on your desk?

if i was an employer i would not put up with either..

and no your employer has no right to 'confiscate' your property.. that acts as theft..

now stop your moaning and get back to work.... rofl

[diamond]

We are not even allowed phones on site, they have only recently said we can leave them in our cars and check them at lunchtimes. (Not that many pay attention to this rule but we would only have ourselves to blame if they took action)

[El Saxo]

Guys I'm not moaning about not being able to use my mobile - I don't sit here texting all day like some of my 'colleagues' do & if anyone does call me I usually just give the supervisor a quick shout 'do you mind if i answer this?' and / or tell the caller I will call back when I'm having a break / lunch.

I just wanted to be able to stand my ground if / when they do decide they don't like something I'm doing & try to take action that they have no right to take (confiscation of property in this case). Thanks for the advice, if they try taking anything I will kick up one hell of a s***storm!! :lol:

By the way, the irony of being sat here typing this when I should be working is not entirely lost on me! :wink:

[Stig]

We are not allowed mobiles in the office either. But that is more down to the work we do rather than time spent texting. If there are others abusing the fact they can use their mobile when ever they can and do so all the time, then it is them that need a punch in the face for taking away that privilege for the rest. As a person responsible for a handful of office staff, when I have to be authoritive I do so to the whole group. But I also approach those it is not aimed at before hand and let them know the rant is coming and not to take it personally. Maybe your supervisor could have taken this stance.

[timwilky]

I agree you should not have your mobile at work. Turn it off and pick up any voice mail after work.

Does not apply to most people I work with though as our mobiles are work provided, hee hee.

[Biker Biggles]

Employer cant take personal property off you,but they can institute policy that says you cant have your phone out on the desk as in this case.
If you disregard said policy they can take action against you and ultimately sack you for it.In fact they can sack you for virtually anything as long as they follow certain rules and keep their Is dotted and Ts crossed.

[wizurd]

in my job have my mobile on all the time and text like mad. Work in IT for local council, always get all my work done, more than most actually, but with the way the work is sometimes ya just gotta sit there and watch something run so i text as much as i want.

Not sure what your job is so cant say but as for taking your phone from you its theft. Do what i would do if some asbo took my phone from me in the street. chase them across the office and stick their head through the wall, you not only get you phone back but will probably feel alot better too :-D (might loose your job though)

[Samurai Penguin]

To answer the original question, the TUC website has an excellent section called 'Know Your Rights'.

http://www.tuc.org.uk/tuc/rights_main.cfm

[thefallenangel]

or just use your personal mobile for work (i only recieve calls on mine and make the odd phone call).

[dizzyblonde]

mobiles are banned at my place of work. Not that its any use anyway. The reception is terrible, and the machinery interferes with signal(read that as none) if I want to text I have to hide in a corner(that will recieve a signal)without being spotted.
Its always been banned. Mind you if you lost it in amongst all them tins of chocolates, someone would get a nice xmas present! Cause bothering trying to find one amongst that lot would be impossible!

[-Ralph-]

in my job have my mobile on all the time and text like mad. Work in IT for local council

Yep, having been an IT consultant with a lot of public sector customers, I can vouch for the fact that you have loads of time to send text! ;)

Council tax increase anyone? :p

[wizurd]

lol i work my ass off as it happens unlike some in the team. Its simple as i explained to one of my bosses a while back, "im installing software on one server, writting some plsql for another system and trying to setup service requests on another system while texting, it's not affecting my work and i'm working harder than some so leave me alone" Our management are the second worst i've ever worked for though and really haven't got a clue. In fact when people say that council workers dont do anything etc etc its wrong. The real major problems with councils are the management on the whole. They are the ones that destroy workers lives, treat them like crap and bend rules all over the shop to treat them like slaves. Seen lots of it across my council and as a tax payer the amount of money that councillors and management waste realllyyyy p"£$es me off. Soz, rant over :-)

[gruntygiggles]

Andy, if they have not stated anywhere in writing to you either in your contracts or an amendment or attachemtn to your contracts, the line you can use is that you checked your contracts and it is not stated anywhere that you cannot have your mobile phone on your desk, use it or whatever.

They can then go away and make it company policy with immediate effect. They may have to do this in the form of an attachment to your contracts, but refusal to accept such an attachment would not do any of your colleagues any good in the long run.

All you can do if they threaten to confiscate any property of your or your co workers is remind them politely that all they have the power to do is tell you to put the item in question away. If they take any personal belongings from any employee, they are comitting a criminal act.

Honestly....I wouldn't say or do anything in this situation as the last thing you want to do is annoy your bosses. The only time I would do something is if it actually happened. If they confiscated someones phone, I would wait for that person to go back to their office or somewhere private and just have a quiet little word to let them know that they cannot lawfully do that and that you wanted to let them know that rather than leave them to risk the repercussions.

If it doesn't apply to you though and you know that your bosses value you and don't tarnish you with the same brush as the others, ignore those threats and just get on with things.

WUB YOU xxxx

[Lozzo]

A friend of mine had to put up with one of his staff's annoying ring-tone sounding off many times a day for personal calls. After about a month of this he waited by the chap's desk, rang his number and before the chap could reach for his phone my mate picked it up and dropped it in a cup of coffee. He added the words "You're here to work not organise your social life, don't bring a mobile to work with you again if you still want a job"

[wizurd]

Much more balanced reply than mine GG :-)

[wizurd]

A friend of mine had to put up with one of his staff's annoying ring-tone sounding off many times a day for personal calls. After about a month of this he waited by the chap's desk, rang his number and before the chap could reach for his phone my mate picked it up and dropped it in a cup of coffee. He added the words "You're here to work not organise your social life, don't bring a mobile to work with you again if you still want a job"

So on purpose he damaged someone elses property? Cant say whether the guy was taking the mick with his phone usage, but you still cant go around doing that as an employer. Common sense would say have it on silent though

[yorkie_chris]

A friend of mine had to put up with one of his staff's annoying ring-tone sounding off many times a day for personal calls. After about a month of this he waited by the chap's desk, rang his number and before the chap could reach for his phone my mate picked it up and dropped it in a cup of coffee. He added the words "You're here to work not organise your social life, don't bring a mobile to work with you again if you still want a job"

Seems OTT. I'd find it highly inconvenient if someone took it upon themselves to drop my phone in a brew before thinking to have a word about it first. Not to mention damned rude.
Then again I don't tend to take the pi$$ out of my employer. Bit of respect on all sides goes a long way.
Your mate sounds like a c##t and a bully TBH. So does the employee, I sodding hate ringtones.

[Jamiebridges123]

A friend of mine had to put up with one of his staff's annoying ring-tone sounding off many times a day for personal calls. After about a month of this he waited by the chap's desk, rang his number and before the chap could reach for his phone my mate picked it up and dropped it in a cup of coffee. He added the words "You're here to work not organise your social life, don't bring a mobile to work with you again if you still want a job"

Perhaps if it was that "annoying" your friend could have simple "consider putting it on silent or vibrate" or at the very least "change to a less annoying ringtone please mate"

What your mate did was thuggish and not fitting of someone in a position of authority. They have no right to do that to someone else's belongings....

Sorry if that seems out of order but it's the truth..


If someone had of done that to me, I would have smacked them and walked out before they had a chance to fire me....

Really though as YC say, don't take the ****. My previous employer had no problems letting me take phone calls, it's called multi-tasking.

[_Stretchie_]

Sent you the answer by text...

; )

[the white rabbit]

Sent you the answer by text...

; )

Did it include the word 'vaseline'?

[_Stretchie_]

Not in work time it didn't






He wouldn't be able to keep his mind on his job

[shonadoll]

Guys I'm not moaning about not being able to use my mobile - I don't sit here texting all day like some of my 'colleagues' do & if anyone does call me I usually just give the supervisor a quick shout 'do you mind if i answer this?' and / or tell the caller I will call back when I'm having a break / lunch.

I just wanted to be able to stand my ground if / when they do decide they don't like something I'm doing & try to take action that they have no right to take (confiscation of property in this case). Thanks for the advice, if they try taking anything I will kick up one hell of a s***storm!! :lol:

By the way, the irony of being sat here typing this when I should be working is not entirely lost on me! :wink:

But you are asking for advice, after saying that your colleagues behave like kids-don't you think it is maybe a good thing they aren't allowed mobiles on their desk?

Put it away, or leave it on your desk, but I don't think giving your colleagues yet more pc ammunition is a great idea, tbh.