'I'm not a high school student': Boss bans cell phones in the workplace, confiscates them before employees clock in

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Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Jan 15, 2024 2:00 PM EST

One of the best things about being an adult is that nobody snatches your phone away from you. Don't get me wrong, I understand why teachers have to take increasingly desperate steps to ensure their students will pay attention. However, when you're on the other side, it feels pretty silly that you can't be trusted with the incredibly simple task of sitting still for an hour without checking Instagram. 

Your ability to use your phone on the job can be a little ambiguous when you're an adult. Sure, you shouldn't be scrolling through TikTok for 30 minutes under any circumstance, but you probably shouldn't be reprimanded for checking your phone occasionally. If you can't be trusted not to play on your phone nonstop, you're probably going to get fired sooner rather than later. One preschool teacher was recently subject to a new "no phones" policy at her job, and I can understand why it made her blood boil.

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  • 01
    r/antiwork u/kbsths99 17h ● job sent out an email saying we are no longer allowed personal phones at work and we have to leave them in the front office when we clock in
    via u/kbsths99
  • 02
    I don't like the way this makes me feel. My job already takes up so much of my time, sometimes there are things I need to do during the day, like order groceries or respond to an important email, and it's not like I'm on tiktok or social media (they've blocked most social media sites anyway) They said we can only have our phones during breaks, although my job doesn't really give us breaks so much as downtime (we do get a 30 min lunch) but for about 2 hours before my lunch I'm
    via u/kbsths99
  • 03
    literally just sitting down, covering other peoples lunches. I really hope this doesn't mean I have to just sit and stare at a wall for 2 hours. I used to bring a book but I can't focus on a book for two hours. I'm really upset about this, I'm not a high school student, I don't need another adult to control and dictate what I'm allowed to do with my personal belonings.
    via u/kbsths99
  • 04
    Beagle_1957. 17h I had an employer like that - forced us to put our phones in our lockers. Then, IT implemented Microsoft Authenticator, which required us to use...our phones...to log into our work computers.... Reply 41.5k ...
    via u/Beagle_1957
  • 05
    _Terryist. 15h I bet those two events are related, if IT was in- house and fell under the same policy ... 927
    via u/_Terryist
  • 06
    kbsths99 OP. 15h My job is not super tech based but there are definitely work based activities I use my phone for. ... 91
    via u/kbsths99
  • 07
    Tiny EmergencyCake • 15h Stop doing that. If works needs you to use a phone then they need to provide one ... 200
    via u/TinyEmergencyCake
  • 08
    maodiver1 17h ● Take in a broken phone. Leave it. Get really mad when it doesn't work and accuse them of breaking it Reply 1.2k ...
    via u/maodiver1
  • 09
    kbsths99 OP • 15h sadly I have no other phones 分 85 凸
    via u/kbsths99
  • 10
    Karl2241 15h ● You can buy broken old phones for literally $5, start with marketplace. ... 4234
    via u/Karl2241
  • 11
    evilgirlattack • 14h My old job made us put our phones in lockers right outside the managers' office (where they spent 90% of their time gossiping about my coworkers). I got called up to the break room one day because they figured out that it was my alarm that was going off every 30 minutes, and they wanted to stop hearing "Jesus Take the Wheel." 246
    via u/evilgirlattack
  • 12
    trubboy • 17h Set alarms to go off randomly during the day and turn the volume up. Reply 4322
    via u/trubboy
  • 13
    OpheliaRainGalaxy • 17h ● This is the way! Especially if everybody joins in and makes the alarms as silly as possible! Might I suggest a Sesame Street theme, or possibly clips from Muppets Christmas Carol? I even have an example story for how a bunch of people being loudly randomly silly gets changes made. Teacher told the class this story, long time ago:
    via u/OpheliaRainGalaxy
  • 14
    She was a student traveling with a big pack of other students, just seeing the world before settling down, when they got stuck at a border crossing with picky guards. All these young adults standing in cattle guard fencing, waiting for hours as the guards squeeze toothpaste tubes and poke through innocent luggage. Many years pre- phones, so absolutely nothing to do but wait. Well cattle guards so... someone mooed. Soft, quiet, but they did it, they mooed. And then someone else mooed. And another
    via u/OpheliaRainGalaxy
  • 15
    thedudeabidesOG. 17h Is there an actual reason they are using for not having phones available? For instance, are you around confidential or financial information? If not, just leave the phone on silent and keep it in your pocket. And in the front office? Do they have secure lockers with actual working locks because if not I'd ignore it. Reply 129
    via u/thedudeabidesOG
  • 16
    kbsths99 OP. 15h They said they're setting up a place for us to put them. I work at a dayschool. The reason given was We want you to know we have considered this move carefully, and we believe this is the most effective way to ensure personal phones are never used in the classroom, play spaces, or on walks. We have made this decision for several reasons: NAEYC notes the temptation of personal phone use in the classroom and encourages taking precautions to avoid this risk; members of our communit
    via u/kbsths99
  • 17
    20 LadySmuag 13h are never used in the classroom, play spaces, or on walks. If y'all are taking kids on a walk you'd better have a way to quickly call emergency services, are they thinking. "Oh no, I can't find little Jimmy. Alright kids let's walk single file back to the day school to ask them to call for help." ?? ... 4110
    via u/LadySmuag
  • 18
    kbsths99 OP • 13h We have walkie-talkies. Although I can definitely say that there have been multiple times when I have tried to reach someone on the walkie-talkie and no one has answered. 473 + ...
    via u/kbsths99

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boss workplace-stories phones cell phones employee iPhones terrible-bosses work employees cell phone toxic-boss workplace bad bosses preschool
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