Reply to Cell phone rant

Forum Index » Employer Issues

Reply to "Cell phone rant"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]OP, I currently have an au pair who we've had major cell phone issues with, so I sort of get where you're coming from.  I do think maybe your history is getting the best of you a bit here, but maybe we're not getting the whole story.  But I'll agree with you on the basic facts - if I had hired a sitter and during her first week, she arrived late and spent 15 minutes on the phone in the first hour she was there, I would not continue with her and I would not give her a good reference.  I don't know that I'd give her a bad reference, but I would probably say something like I hadn't been witness to her performance long enough to judge.

That said, especially with the younger set (sorry for generalizing), these cell phones issues have become worse and worse it seems.  My AP was pretty much addicted.  She had it in her hand constantly, was looking at it every few minutes, was having texting conversations with hundreds of texts throughout the day when she was with my kids.

After I realized the issue, we sat her down and reiterated our expectation that the kids be her focus while on duty.  We told her we were prepared to rematch if she didn't think she could do that (and we were - why would I pay someone to sit on their phone all day?).  She did a 180 after that conversation.  I still don't fully trust that she's off her phone because she zapped my trust with the amount she was using it in the first place, but I think it was critical to point her behavior out to her (I don't even think she got how much she was looking at it or understood what a distraction it was from my kids - her JOB - to be having a side conversation with a friend all day).

I also get being sensitive to the issue since you've been burned once.  We definitely added stronger statements to our au pair handbook about cell phone use while on duty.  But you have hired a young and inexperienced person for a temporary job.  Talk to her.  You owe her that much as an older person who exemplifies the type of person she's going to be working for (whether she's a nanny or a teacher).  Tell her you noticed that she was on her phone and that you want it to be clear that phone use should be kept to the bare minimum.  See if she agrees and understands and give her a chance to improve.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics