Confiscating phone without notifying

SSII

Hello there,
Just wondering are managers allowed to take a phone without informing you that they took it?
Had a situation like this with a coworker who left his phone to charge, when later he couldn't find his phone and he assumed that it was stolen. He left in a panic looking for his phone just to realize that the manager took his phone in his office without telling him.
Is this normal?

bren2002

Company phone or private one?

Goat the dote

I imagine it would depend on what the work mobile phone policy was?

o1s1n

Is it a work phone or a personal phone?

I remember my old company had a 'clean desk' policy and one of the main things on it was leaving laptops unlocked or phones unattended. Items would be confiscated and a meeting with HR arranged.

However, it was rarely phones as they were personal phones and people tend to kick up a stink (and quite rightly too!)

elperello

No.
What sort of workplace is it?

SSII

He left his personal phone to charge in a drawer.

jimmycrackcorm

Did the manager say why he took it? It could likely be just for safekeeping.

Teyla Emmagan

SSII wrote:

He left his personal phone to charge in a drawer.

That's just so weird

Goat the dote

Teyla Emmagan wrote: »

That's just so weird

Chances are they’re not meant to have mobile phones in work... I worked in a place like that and there was a lot of shady practice like phones in drawers and drawers being regularly opened to “find something” (ie check the phone)

Wanderer2010

Teyla Emmagan wrote: »

That's just so weird

Why? I work in an open plan office, people are allowed to have their phones, sometimes they charge them and keep them in their drawer. Not weird at all. Depends on how strict your workplace is surely.

ludite

SSII wrote: »

Hello there,
Just wondering are managers allowed to take a phone without informing you that they took it?
Had a situation like this with a coworker who left his phone to charge, when later he couldn't find his phone and he assumed that it was stolen. He left in a panic looking for his phone just to realize that the manager took his phone in his office without telling him.
Is this normal?

Did he take it with the intention of find him to give it back to him because he thought he'd forgotten it? Otherwise this is not ok. What's that manager like usually?

Kiith

Did the manager say why s/he took the phone? I'd be pretty pissed if someone took my personal phone off my desk.

Sebastian Dangerfield

In my last job, Facilities would walk around in the evening and check desks at random for unlocked drawers, or files left on desks. If they found an unlocked drawer, they confiscated the contents and you had to go up like a bold child to ask for it back the next day.

Sounds like a similar arrangement - the fact that it was a phone might be irrelevant. Among the contents of my desk were a box of Weetabix and a bottle of whiskey Id won as a prize, they took it all.

Peatys

Wanderer2010 wrote: »

Why? I work in an open plan office, people are allowed to have their phones, sometimes they charge them and keep them in their drawer. Not weird at all. Depends on how strict your workplace is surely.

Id guess they meant it's weird that they went into a drawer after the phone..

Alun

Some of these so-called "workplaces" sound more like kindergartens to me. Who on earth would willingly work somewhere like that?

Sebastian Dangerfield

Alun wrote: »

Some of these so-called "workplaces" sound more like kindergartens to me. Who on earth would willingly work somewhere like that?

We also used to get warnings from Facilities if we were seen walking from the canteen to our desks with an uncovered cup.

Facilities were very popular

super_furry

Sebastian Dangerfield wrote: »

We also used to get warnings from Facilities if we were seen walking from the canteen to our desks with an uncovered cup.

Facilities were very popular

Where was this? Stalingrad?

Peatys

Sebastian Dangerfield wrote: »

In my last job, Facilities would walk around in the evening and check desks at random for unlocked drawers, or files left on desks. If they found an unlocked drawer, they confiscated the contents and you had to go up like a bold child to ask for it back the next day.

Sounds like a similar arrangement - the fact that it was a phone might be irrelevant. Among the contents of my desk were a box of Weetabix and a bottle of whiskey Id won as a prize, they took it all.

Security in Amgen in Dun Laoire take anything that's not nailed down. They leave a manifest of what they took, which you have to get signed by your manager and bring to security where you get retrained/retested in corporate security.

frag420

ha ha this happened to my housemate last year. The last time it happened they took something sensitive from the drawer along with everything else, files, phone charger,docs etc.

She knew that they had taken it but said nothing. When her director asked for said item she explained that someone stole it from her drawer and that she no longer had it along with everything else that was in the drawer. They checked camera and sure enough someone from facilities or IT had checked the drawers and removed all the stuff.

The director went ape **** as facilities/IT has taken it and kept it in an unsecured box in the facilities/IT office and that was the end of facilities opening peoples drawers in the office!!

Sebastian Dangerfield wrote: »

In my last job, Facilities would walk around in the evening and check desks at random for unlocked drawers, or files left on desks. If they found an unlocked drawer, they confiscated the contents and you had to go up like a bold child to ask for it back the next day.

Sounds like a similar arrangement - the fact that it was a phone might be irrelevant. Among the contents of my desk were a box of Weetabix and a bottle of whiskey Id won as a prize, they took it all.

gctest50

SSII wrote: »

He left his personal phone to charge in a drawer.

Fire risk

http://www.independent.ie/business/technology/tech-gaming/dublin-fire-brigade-issues-warning-about-charging-phones-34616674.html



.

SusieBlue

I would go ballistic if any of my colleagues/boss removed my personal phone from my desk or on my desk without my permission. Regardless of workplace policies its my personal property and its not on. I would be fuming.

SSII

The manager suffers from superiority complex. They don't want us to use phones but taking someones personal belongings without telling them is next level. The phone was not on him and he was not using it, he was just charging it.
If he is going to pontificate it at least he should have said something like "I'm taking your phone and you will have it back at the end of the shift''
Is this worth it to report to HR or I don't know, someone?

elperello

What exactly is the job description of someone who works in "facilities"?

gctest50

SSII wrote: »

The manager suffers from superiority complex. They don't want us to use phones but taking someones personal belongings without telling them is next level. The phone was not on him and he was not using it, he was just charging it.....

Charging it unattended, in a drawer.

Was there sheets of paper etc in the drawer ?

titan18

Sounds like an awful workplace. If someone is being unproductive by staring at the phone, fire them. Not taking them off people who have it on their desks but might only rarely use it or could be expecting a call relating to something important.

Imagine taking someone's phone as their partner was rushed to hospital or something like that, and they missed it.

Mena

Sebastian Dangerfield wrote: »

Alun wrote: »

Some of these so-called "workplaces" sound more like kindergartens to me. Who on earth would willingly work somewhere like that?

We also used to get warnings from Facilities if we were seen walking from the canteen to our desks with an uncovered cup.

Facilities were very popular

Have you seen what steaming hot coffee can do to skin? And of course then the company would be held liable.

Sebastian Dangerfield

Mena wrote: »

Have you seen what steaming hot coffee can do to skin? And of course then the company would be held liable.

Yes but Ive been holding cups a long time. Im quite good at it now

Fighting Tao

Did your friend read up the company policy about personal belongings or mobile phones in work? Without knowing the policy no one can say if it was right or wrong of the manager.

julyjane

I've also worked somewhere that didn't allow employees to walk around outside the canteen area with an uncovered cup. We were supplied with travel mugs. It was a health and safety policy because someone had spilled a drink in a corridor and not cleaned up the spillage and somebody else slipped on it

Vojera

As has been said above, it really depends on the company policy.

One of my friends works in a confidential environment and has to leave her personal belongings in a locker while she's working. Her phone would absolutely be confiscated if she had it in her workspace, even if it was in a drawer.

One of my colleagues used to work for Intel and he was telling us that they had a strict policy of putting all their drawings in a locked drawer and locking their computers, just to go to the toilet, and they were reprimanded for any breaches. Again, no personal phones allowed in.

So if it's a workplace like that where there are confidentiality issues, then the manager was absolutely in the right to confiscate the phone and I suspect your friend knows that.

However, if like many of us (myself included), your friend works somewhere that has no issue with personal phones on the desk then I would consider that very strange and would be asking for an explanation.

Birneybau

elperello wrote: »

What exactly is the job description of someone who works in "facilities"?

Tempted, very tempted...

evolving_doors

frag420 wrote: »

ha ha this happened to my housemate last year. The last time it happened they took something sensitive from the drawer along with everything else, files, phone charger,docs etc.

She knew that they had taken it but said nothing. When her director asked for said item she explained that someone stole it from her drawer and that she no longer had it along with everything else that was in the drawer. They checked camera and sure enough someone from facilities or IT had checked the drawers and removed all the stuff.

The director went ape **** as facilities/IT has taken it and kept it in an unsecured box in the facilities/IT office and that was the end of facilities opening peoples drawers in the office!!

Should have robbed it back on the sly, then asked facilities for their stuff back.

washman3

Sebastian Dangerfield wrote: »

We also used to get warnings from Facilities if we were seen walking from the canteen to our desks with an uncovered cup.

Facilities were very popular

Sounds totally silly, but its an insurance/claims issue. That's just the way things are going in this country now. The way they see it is that somebody may walk suddenly around a corner for example and bump into another person carrying a hot cop of tea/coffee. The company would be liable if either person got burned. Take a look at the silly compo claims reported almost daily in the indo and you will see why companies are imposing these rules.

screamer

Different workplaces have different policies. Your friend needs to read his employee handbook and see what it says. That is what the company can do. There's no weird about it some companies demand ultra secure facilities and phones are a no no. In fact from next year with all the changes to data protection from the EU don't be surprised if more workplaces restrict personal phone use at work.

twowheelsonly

titan18 wrote: »

Sounds like an awful workplace. If someone is being unproductive by staring at the phone, fire them. Not taking them off people who have it on their desks but might only rarely use it or could be expecting a call relating to something important.

Imagine taking someone's phone as their partner was rushed to hospital or something like that, and they missed it.

What are the chances and how often does that happen ?? If that person is sitting at their desk then chances are that there's a phone there and anyone that has to contact them will be able to do so.

Where I work having a phone in work is a sackable offence. Somehow or other we all seem to manage fine for the 12 hours that we're working without the world imploding on us.

Sebastian Dangerfield wrote: »

Yes but Ive been holding cups a long time. Im quite good at it now

36 years I've been driving without a crash. Doesn't mean that I won't have one on my way home tonight.
If you owned the company / factory / shop and you were paying the insurance costs would you allow people to walk around with open cups of hot liquid ?

elperello

Birneybau wrote: »

Tempted, very tempted...

Go on go on.
You know you want to!!

Sue Pa Key Pa

WhiteRoses wrote:

I would go ballistic if any of my colleagues/boss removed my personal phone from my desk or on my desk without my permission. Regardless of workplace policies its my personal property and its not on. I would be fuming.

If it is Company policy and you are aware of it, it's your problem. Phones are capable of getting so much commercially sensitive material these days expect it to become the norm

GalwayGrrrrrl

titan18 wrote: »

Imagine taking someone's phone as their partner was rushed to hospital or something like that, and they missed it.

Well how did we managed before mobiles? If there was a real emergency someone would phone your workplace switchboard and find you.

skallywag

Sue Pa Key Pa wrote: »

If it is Company policy and you are aware of it, it's your problem.

Absolutely, and I cannot see how anyone can reasonably argue against that. If personal phones are not allowed within a certain area then of course it should be removed. I have been at offices where having your private phone with you will get you into severe deep water.

Seth Brundle

Sebastian Dangerfield wrote: »

Yes but Ive been holding cups a long time. Im quite good at it now

If you've been holding cups of hot coffee for a long time then it's likely that they've gone cold!

"Confiscating"? Is that the best way to describe it? Does your co-worker have to beg to get it back or something?

Maybe, "Manager takes phone into his office for safe keeping in case it gets nicked?"

Has it been returned yet? Whats the story? Manager not liked generally then?

daheff

xfactorfan23 wrote: »

Well how did we managed before mobiles? If there was a real emergency someone would phone your workplace switchboard and find you.

but most offices dont have switchboards anymore.....you have your own phone line

julyjane

daheff wrote: »

but most offices dont have switchboards anymore.....you have your own phone line

Whoever needed to contact you would find some way of doing so. My children are in school and creche and both places have my work phone number on file. If, for example, a family member was involved in an incident maybe the guards would get in touch with work, I'm sure the gardai are used to having to do some quick detective work to find a next of kin

TaurenDruid

elperello wrote: »

What exactly is the job description of someone who works in "facilities"?

Generally, at a minimum:
* Ensuring health & safety and fire laws are complied with.
* Ensuring access to the building is available during office hours and out of hours when required.
* Managing staff, contractor and visitor ID badges.
* Ensuring staff have appropriate levels of access control.
* Ensuring approriate facilities, accommodation and maintenance contracts are in place for all facilities (plumbing, electrical, heating, cleaning, catering, waste disposal, security, CCTV, general building upkeep and repairs, etc). Managing these contracts and contractors.
* Getting things fixed - whether that's by calling in one of the above contractors or sorting the problem yourself with a bucket or toilet plunger...
* Procurement of energy contracts.
* Monitoring of power and energy use. Sorting problems with same.
* Sourcing and provision of office furniture and accommodation.

Can obviously include much more than this, but that's a good start...

gctest50

elperello wrote: »

What exactly is the job description of someone who works in "facilities"?

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https://i.imgur.com/NGcJNTV.gifv

elperello

Ha!
It's like buses, I'm waiting since Friday for some illumination about this and two come together.
Problem is I don't know who to believe.

happywithlife

twowheelsonly wrote: »

What are the chances and how often does that happen ?? If that person is sitting at their desk then chances are that there's a phone there and anyone that has to contact them will be able to do so.

Where I work having a phone in work is a sackable offence. Somehow or other we all seem to manage fine for the 12 hours that we're working without the world imploding on us.

I have been in a similar situation with my son who has several medical issues one being febrile convulsions. Normally I wouldn't have my phone on me in work (teacher) but last yr I happened to be on a school trip when I got the call from creche my son was having a convulsion in creche (his first there) -- both I and creche were glad I was able to answer that call when it rang as I was able to talk them through it and determine whether an ambulance was needed or not.

Ash.J.Williams

Sebastian Dangerfield wrote: »

We also used to get warnings from Facilities if we were seen walking from the canteen to our desks with an uncovered cup.

Facilities were very popular

We need to put one hand on the bannister on the stairs when walking... And yes that means you can't walk upstairs carrying items that require two hands

bmc58

Call the Gardai and report your phone stolen.That will soften his cough.

Ash.J.Williams

super_furry wrote: »

Where was this? Stalingrad?

That's modern health and safety... I'm sure it's standard in most places

Ash.J.Williams

I've always thought health and safety was going too far lately, however when you look at the goal it's understandable I guess. The goal is to have no injuries whatsoever in work. Nobody can claim injuries from scalding coffee because you have to cover your cup... Nobody can fall down the stairs coz you have to hold the bannister... Nobody can get run over coz youre all walking in a straight line along marked lines... Safety clothing means No broken toes, Nó bruised heads, mo chemicals in the eyes... Most companies now cannot be sued because if you get injured you've probably been doing something you shouldn't...