Small business owner - Found an employee watching videos on her phone. WWYD?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Adding a note, we have a daily checklist. When you await a customer, you are supposed to clean the facility, follow up with other customers, review inventory, etc. So there is a significant amount of work which can be done. The reason why I pose this question is because it is a low paying job ($12 per hour). I should have asked whether it's a norm for low wage workers to constantly spend their time on the phone.

I work as an RN , higher pay, animber if nurses chill on their phones to manage stress. Between a myriad of duties, patients, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Adding a note, we have a daily checklist. When you await a customer, you are supposed to clean the facility, follow up with other customers, review inventory, etc. So there is a significant amount of work which can be done. The reason why I pose this question is because it is a low paying job ($12 per hour). I should have asked whether it's a norm for low wage workers to constantly spend their time on the phone.

That sounds like busy work.

For $12 / hour you ask all that stuff, and then also want them cheerful and attentive for customers???

You need to pay more. At that price point you have to worry absenteeism, sleeping on the job.

If she was reading a paperback would you feel different?

[Anonymous]

I’m an attorney and people play videos while working all the time. Multitasking is a thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Adding a note, we have a daily checklist. When you await a customer, you are supposed to clean the facility, follow up with other customers, review inventory, etc. So there is a significant amount of work which can be done. The reason why I pose this question is because it is a low paying job ($12 per hour). I should have asked whether it's a norm for low wage workers to constantly spend their time on the phone.

That sounds like busy work.

not the OP. but yes its busy work... as a small business owner, there is (should be) a certain expectation that when you are at work, you are AT WORK. which means, doing work. even if its dusting your cart, doing inventory of your tools, organizing your work area. ect.

IE there is always work to do. a quick call here, or an email check there isn't a big deal. but if you think about 5 minutes a day, x200 days is 1000 minutes or 16 hours. or 2 work days.

lets say they take 5 of these "text" breaks every day ends up 83 hours or two weeks.

its very easy to see how "its only a few minutes" becomes real money and real time and real losses.

now if the OP doesn't have something in place to account for the down time (call it busy work) then its on the OP. but if there is a task list for things to be done during "down time" then the OP has thought it through.

I would not terminate someone for the first time it happened. I'd first make a general chat/reminder to the entire staff and maybe even post a memo that during down time, there are thing to do, post the list and remind the staff that personal electronic devices need to be reserved for use during break times and that abuse of the policy can result in disciplinary actions.

[Anonymous]

I would meet with them and let them know that my expectations during the work day that they accomplish a full day’s work and that I had set out tasks that could be accomplished during down times. While I want the workplace to be pleasant I’m employing them to complete all work at hand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Adding a note, we have a daily checklist. When you await a customer, you are supposed to clean the facility, follow up with other customers, review inventory, etc. So there is a significant amount of work which can be done. The reason why I pose this question is because it is a low paying job ($12 per hour). I should have asked whether it's a norm for low wage workers to constantly spend their time on the phone.

That sounds like busy work.

not the OP. but yes its busy work... as a small business owner, there is (should be) a certain expectation that when you are at work, you are AT WORK. which means, doing work. even if its dusting your cart, doing inventory of your tools, organizing your work area. ect.

IE there is always work to do. a quick call here, or an email check there isn't a big deal. but if you think about 5 minutes a day, x200 days is 1000 minutes or 16 hours. or 2 work days.

lets say they take 5 of these "text" breaks every day ends up 83 hours or two weeks.

its very easy to see how "its only a few minutes" becomes real money and real time and real losses.

now if the OP doesn't have something in place to account for the down time (call it busy work) then its on the OP. but if there is a task list for things to be done during "down time" then the OP has thought it through.

I would not terminate someone for the first time it happened. I'd first make a general chat/reminder to the entire staff and maybe even post a memo that during down time, there are thing to do, post the list and remind the staff that personal electronic devices need to be reserved for use during break times and that abuse of the policy can result in disciplinary actions.

+1. In every retail job I worked at when I was younger if we were not assisting other customers we were supposed to be folding clothes, cleaning out the fitting rooms or restocking the shelves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Adding a note, we have a daily checklist. When you await a customer, you are supposed to clean the facility, follow up with other customers, review inventory, etc. So there is a significant amount of work which can be done. The reason why I pose this question is because it is a low paying job ($12 per hour). I should have asked whether it's a norm for low wage workers to constantly spend their time on the phone.

That sounds like busy work.

No such thing when you're hourly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Adding a note, we have a daily checklist. When you await a customer, you are supposed to clean the facility, follow up with other customers, review inventory, etc. So there is a significant amount of work which can be done. The reason why I pose this question is because it is a low paying job ($12 per hour). I should have asked whether it's a norm for low wage workers to constantly spend their time on the phone.

That sounds like busy work.

not the OP. but yes its busy work... as a small business owner, there is (should be) a certain expectation that when you are at work, you are AT WORK. which means, doing work. even if its dusting your cart, doing inventory of your tools, organizing your work area. ect.

IE there is always work to do. a quick call here, or an email check there isn't a big deal. but if you think about 5 minutes a day, x200 days is 1000 minutes or 16 hours. or 2 work days.

lets say they take 5 of these "text" breaks every day ends up 83 hours or two weeks.

its very easy to see how "its only a few minutes" becomes real money and real time and real losses.

now if the OP doesn't have something in place to account for the down time (call it busy work) then its on the OP. but if there is a task list for things to be done during "down time" then the OP has thought it through.

I would not terminate someone for the first time it happened. I'd first make a general chat/reminder to the entire staff and maybe even post a memo that during down time, there are thing to do, post the list and remind the staff that personal electronic devices need to be reserved for use during break times and that abuse of the policy can result in disciplinary actions.

But this is the nature of a retail job. There are ebbs and flows of customers, so it is very possible that all the other work really is done.

One summer, I worked as a hostess at a restaurant at the beach. Obviously, lunch shifts were EXTREMELY slow. Sure, we could clean the windows or wipe the menus or straighten up the t-shirt cabinet, but... that doesn't take that long. And we weren't allowed to use our phones, so I would just stand there doing nothing. It was PAINFUL. It's common for managers to say "there's always something that can be done!" but truly, there probably isn't. Because the little busy work doesn't take that long, and any larger projects probably can't realistically be done because there is a chance a customer will show up... that's the point of paying them to be there. Their priority is to handle customers, and neither of you can control what that flow looks like.

[Anonymous]

If you've got time to lean, you've got time to clean.

[Anonymous]

I would focus more on whether the work is getting done. Is the checklist mandatory? If so, comment on those items not getting done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you've got time to lean, you've got time to clean.

+1 This should have been covered in orientation. As a small business owner, I would fire her. She has really poor judgement.

[Anonymous]

Used to work at a desk where I had to wait for customers. They forbid me to do anything else. I literally split ends of my hair for hours a day. If you aren’t there to supervise your employee then they are left to their own devices. Fire her if you want and you can sit at home and monitor the next unmotivated employee.

[Anonymous]

I mean 20 mins or so here and there, or maybe having it on sitting on the counter while she does some tasks when there aren't any customers around would be easier to overlook. But if she's just straight up sitting on her butt and watching feature length films everyday, that's not cool. I'd at least give her a sincere warning that case.

[Anonymous]

Where are you when this is happening? Why are you not fixing it as it occurs. How do you know about it if you aren’t there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who owns some small retail stores in the area. It's not out of the ordinary. You may want to give a warning, and for the checklist, make a way to mark that it's done. For example, ever 2 hours they need to sign off that they did X. If they are actually doing it, they won't have as much time to play on their phone.

This is a good approach - to increase the number of times to address the checklist per shift.