test 33 
Ask HR: Employee Cell Phones: Can We Ban Them?
Skip to content

Employee Experience

Ask HR: Employee Cell Phones: Can We Ban Them?

What is a more ubiquitous technology than cell phones? Everyone has

them, from children to adults to…your employees. How do you manage


when cell phone usage on the job gets out of hand at your company? The

pros at

HR


Support Center recently tackled this tricky question.

Question:

What are the laws regarding cell phones at work? Personal use by our

employees has gotten out of hand. Can we change our policy to say that

cell phones are not permitted on the premises?

Answer from Sarah, HR Pro:

Thank you for your question. I can certainly understand the frustration

of having employees on their phones frequently and the need to implement

a policy to limit this use. There is no law saying you cannot implement

a policy prohibiting cell phones on the property, but I would recommend

a different approach.

Banning cell phones from the property would likely decrease employee

morale as there are times (e.g., break times or family emergencies) when

employees may need to be able to make or take personal calls. Instead

of restricting phones altogether, you could instead restrict cell phone

use to break times and to designated areas away from employee

workstations where an employee can make those phone calls.

In either situation, eliminating all calls or restricting use, you will

want to address how your employee’s family members will reach them

during working hours in case of a true emergency. One option is to have

the calls filter through your reception desk. Alternately, it may be a

good idea to have a second line to your company that is for employee

emergencies.

Whatever you decide, you need to hold your employees accountable to


the standards you set. Employees who fail to adhere to these standards

should be disciplined according to your policy.


Sarah

has extensive Human Resources experience in the legal, software,

security and property preservation industries. She has a Business

Communications degree from Villa Julie College (now Stevenson

University) and a master’s certificate in Human Resources Management and

a Strategic Organizational Leadership certification from Villa Nova

University. Sarah is also a member of the National Society of Human

Resources Management and has managed the HR function for small startup

companies to mid-sized/large organizations.


Do you have questions like this? One entire year of

HR


Support Center is cheaper than just one hour of a typical attorney’s

time.

Ask


us instead.


Subscribe to Our Resource Center Digest

Enter your email below to receive a weekly recap of the latest articles

from Paycor’s Resource Center.

MktoForms2.loadForm("//app-ab01.marketo.com", "003-JWW-697", 1796);

Check your inbox


for an email confirming your subscription. Enjoy!