Should employees be allowed to text on the job?

[Sean Dalt]

Do you think that employees should be allowed to text while on the job? I was at the mall today and I saw lots of employees texting like crazy and playing with their Iphone! Especially in front of customers. I would go to Radio Shack, Dairy Queen, and places at the mall and employees are allowed to be on their cell phone texting in front of customers when it is slow and when they have nothing better to do. Most of these people who text are just young teenagers men and women and they will be playing on their phone all day and not working plus slacking off on the job. If I was their boss, I sure as hell wouldn’t put up with it and take away their phone.

Do you think this is right? Should there be a rule where they are not allowed to text on the job? It really drives me up a wall and I feel embarrassed having to walk by them or talk to them when they are goofing off texting on their phone when they should be working and what is worst is when they see me catching them do that then they hide their phone or put on a fake act with trying to act professional when they aren’t!

[R T]

Depends on the job and the circumstances.

[Jordan]

It would really depend on the type of job they have. Because certain jobs need you to text to people like in offices and that but if it's in a mall or something, that shouldn't

[michr]

MOST employers do not allow this behaviour, and they do discipline employees for it (up to termination)....
employees waste time in numerous ways, electronic devises and social media are just some of the newest ways to be non-productive but as employees we have always found ways to slack-off at work from time to time....


there are some employers who "think outside of the box" and are using these devices, websites, social accounts as tools to improve their business, and it's ability to communicate with it's customers, while improving employee morale....
these ideas are NOT appropriate for every business, for the most part they are not beneficial in food service & retail; but a good employer finds way to encourage their employees to be productive and looks for new ways to turn slacking-off into valuable work product....

[Badabingboom]

Depends on this situation. I work in a shopping centre. However I'm also a manager and I use my iPhone for everything. It often looks like I'm texting but I place orders on my phone, email and also text the owner of the company quite often. It depends entirely. However when people need my attention I put my phone away and help. People need to realise that phones aren't just used for texting these days, and a lot of them are used for business prospects too. I even control the music playlist in store from my phone!

[MavistheMaven]

Customers and job duties definitely come first. Employees are on company time at work.

Employers absolutely have the right to forbid them to text on the job, but it's understandable if they allow them to do it during downtime.

You see young people doing it in stores and fast food places at the mall, but guess what, businesspeople do it in their offices and even in conference rooms during meetings. Or they will bring their laptops into meetings, which is normally so they can take notes or refer to things, but if you look, they're on the web or chatting or emailing. And at times, they will have to be told right in the meeting to stop it. It's not just kids doing it.