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HR party of one is brought to you by

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Bernie

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portal have you ever heard of green Bank

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West Virginia it's known as America's

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quietest Town it only has a population

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of 143 people but that isn't why it's so

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quiet there it's quiet because cell

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phones and wireless devices are banned

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even if you were to drive through the

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city your cell phone would lose

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reception and your radio wouldn't be

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able to pick up any

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stations Green Bank is part of a 13,000

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squ mile area called the national radio

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quiet Zone which protects a giant

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telescope operated by the national radio

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astronomy

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Observatory experts state that a cell

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phone emits about three watts and can

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swamp the sounds that are teaching

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astronomers about how the Milky Way was

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formed and how it's still evolving it's

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pretty cool what people and telescopes

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can accomplish without self phone

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distractions right keep watching until

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the end for more information on the

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things astronomers in quiet Green Bank

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have been able to accomplish you might

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not have any high-tech telescopes in

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your workplace that that doesn't mean

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distractions aren't detrimental to your

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organization success cell phones have

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become one of the biggest workplace

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distractions see what I mean according

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to a recent online study the average

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employee spends 5 hours a week on their

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phone during office hours for nonwork

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activities that's more than 12% of

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full-time employees work week costing

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organizations thousands or millions of

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dollars in Lost

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productivity this realization has led

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some employers to take measures many

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would consider extreme like tracking

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employee keystrokes to ensure employees

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are staying on task during work hours

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other employers have even implemented

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programs that track employee eye

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movements if you're really unlucky your

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employer has implemented a combination

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of the two because cell phones have

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become a part of everyday life employers

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must adjust to the new reality in trying

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to mitigate the effect of cell phone use

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on workplace productivity in this

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episode we'll discuss what is a personal

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device policy do you need a personal

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device policy and how to write a

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workplace personal device policy let's

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get started

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what is a personal device policy a

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personal device policy is a document

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that lays out guidelines rules and

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restrictions for cell phone or other

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personal device use during business

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hours employees should read the policy

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and fully understand employer

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expectations for how they should and

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shouldn't use personal devices in the

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workplace personal device policies

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should be easily accessible I recommend

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including the policy in your employee

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handbook or culture guide for certain

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industries where cell phone use must be

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more restrictive like a library it might

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be helpful to post reminders in visible

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places do you need a personal device

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policy when deciding whether or not your

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workplace needs a personal device policy

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be sure to consider the following

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factors safety must be considered when

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deciding if your workplace needs a

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personal device policy some occupations

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have higher safety risks than others and

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thus require employees to have fewer or

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no distractions for example a truck

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driver's lack of focus could harm

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themselves or other drivers thus truck

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drivers should have a very restricted

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personal device policy in some

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Industries where personal safety is at

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risk personal device policies are

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legally mandated to comply with the

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Federal Motor Carrier safety

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administration or the

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FMCSA regulations a truck driver must

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keep their cell phone in a location

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where they can initiate or end a call by

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touching a single button similarly OSHA

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sets standards for construction workers

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who operate cran or dcks OSHA standard

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1926.1400 D States the Craner Derek

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operator must not engage in any practice

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or activity that diverts his or her

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attention while actually engaged in

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operating the equipment such as the use

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of cellular phones other than when used

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for a signal communic a and if the cell

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phone use is used for receiving signals

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OSHA standard

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1926.1424

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system surgeons also likely need a

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strict cell phone policy because they

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are regularly dealing with human lives

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in their statement on distractions in

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the operating room the American College

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of Surgeons states that whenever

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possible members of the O team including

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the operating surgeon should only engage

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in Urgent or emergent outside

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communication during an operation

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personal and routine calls should be

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minimized and all phone calls should be

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kept as brief as possible when possible

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incoming calls or messages should be

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forwarded or silenced you would think

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this is an apparent rule that doesn't

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need to be stated however tragic

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incidents have occurred in the O because

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of cell phone distraction in 2011 Dr

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Spillers an anesthesiologist at a

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hospital in Texas sent text messages and

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emails while monitoring a patient in the

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O he was distracted for about 20 minutes

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and during that time the patient's

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oxygen levels dropped and she died in

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surgery the family filed a malpractice

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lawsuit against the negligent doctor

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when strict cell phone policies aren't

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enforced in high stake Industries

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something as tragic as death can occur

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and organizations can face major

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lawsuits

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security and privacy employees have a

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duty to protect confidential proprietary

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and sensitive company information when

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employees misuse their personal devices

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in the workplace they can put the

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security of the organization at risk

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employees have been caught sharing

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information regarding the development of

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systems processes products and

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Technology on social media employees

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have also hurt their employers by

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leaking protected customer and employee

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information in 2023 Tesla sued two of

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its ex-employees for leaking data of

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75,000 users to a German media Outlet

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users and employees confidential

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information like Bank details addresses

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and Social Security numbers were leaked

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the lawsuit resulted in a seizure of the

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ex employees electronic devices

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employees could also use their cell

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phones to take videos of co-workers

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customers or shareholders which can lead

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to lawsuits and ultimately hurt the

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business's reputation productivity you

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should also consider the effect a

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personal device policy would have on the

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productivity of your Workforce

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statistics say that multitasking between

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phone usage and work can decrease

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productivity by up to

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40% if you don't have a personal device

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policy and employees stay productive and

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on task a stringent policy may not be

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necessary however if you notice

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employees are too distracted by their

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cell phones during work work hours it

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may be time to implement a policy

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there's my phone again let's just put

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that

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away business effects another important

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factor to consider is the direct impact

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of employee cell phone usage on your

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business in some Industries the effect

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is immediate we've all probably had

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terrible customer service experiences I

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know I have it usually cause us to feel

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frustrated or turned off from the

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company as a whole let's look at an

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example a cashier at the local grocery

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store is constantly looking down at her

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phone while she's at the cash register

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she just can't wait to inform her

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boyfriend of the latest grocery store

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gossip a customer enters the checkout

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line and waits patiently for the cashier

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to notice her eventually he gets tired

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of waiting and says excuse me the

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cashier looks up from her phone offers a

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quick apology and gets the customer

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checked out while this incident may seem

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minor if it happens consistently the

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customer will probably stop visiting the

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store additionally if the cashier or any

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store associate is continuously

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distracted by their phone customers

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probably won't feel comfortable asking

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questions or asking for help so not only

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is the stores Associates Behavior simply

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rude but it could also hurt the business

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monetarily potential dangers of a no

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cell phone policy keep in mind that

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completely Banning cell phones in the

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workplace could put employees in

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dangerous situations and lead to

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backlash for example Amazon used to have

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a very stringent cell phone ban for

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warehouse employees in December of 2021

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an Amazon warehouse in Illinois collaps

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after it was hit by a tornado killing at

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least six people this was during a

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temporary lift of the cell phone ban due

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to covid but the incident raised concern

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among Amazon workers who feared the

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phone ban would be reinstated according

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to news articles warehouse workers said

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the phone ban would cut them off from

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important safety and weather warnings

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while the cell phone policy claimed to

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be protecting workers they felt it would

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actually harm them by cutting them off

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in the world an Amazon workers movement

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group called amazonians United gathered

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380 signatures to push decision makers

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not to reinstate the policy similarly in

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April of 2021 one there was a shooting

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at the Indianapolis FedEx Ground

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facility eight employees died and five

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were injured because FedEx employees are

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required to keep their phones at a

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locker away from the production floor

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they were unable to contact friends and

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family FedEx's cell phone policy remains

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unchanged today now that we've discussed

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some factors to take into consideration

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when determining whether or not you need

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a personal device policy let's cover how

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you can write one how to to write a

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strong workplace personal device policy

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a workplace technology policy may

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include guidelines for the use of

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company internet using social media

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responsibly proper use of company time

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respecting the privacy of co-workers

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customers and shareholders protecting

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confidential and sensitive company

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information and video or audio recording

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devices the personal device policy will

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likely include a statement

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about the repercussions for violations

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of the policy yes you are allowed to

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take disciplinary action against

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employees who misuse or abuse their

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personal devices in the workplace the

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policy should conclude with an

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acknowledgement section where employees

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acknowledge they've read and agreed to

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the guidelines outlined in the policy

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Sherm has an excellent template for a

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workplace cell phone policy let's look

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at it together the document starts off

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by stating the objective or purpose of

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the policy if you want to be more

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specific you can include a statement

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along the lines of the policy's purpose

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is to promote the safety of the employee

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and the business as well as promote

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workplace productivity it then covers

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policy on personal cell phones company

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provided cell phones safety issues for

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cell phone use and video or audio

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recording devices the policy concludes

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with a statement of consequences for

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violence aters and an employee

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acknowledgement section this is just a

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template however so I would recommend

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reading through it and deciding which

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elements apply to your specific

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organization and which don't I would

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recommend informing employees of the

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personal device policy during the

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onboarding process or in some cases in

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the interview process this ensures

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employees go into the role knowing what

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the expectations are you can inform

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employees of the personal device policy

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using an hris

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if you have a strict personal device

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policy you can house it within Bernie

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Portal's compliance feature and require

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employees to sign an acknowledgement

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protecting you from liability in the

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case that an employee breaks your

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organization's policies keep in mind

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that cell phones are an important part

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of your employees lives while it may

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seem easier to completely prohibit cell

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phone use in the workplace overly

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stringent rules can obstruct recruitment

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efforts and increase turnover rates

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before decid ing on any workplace rule

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employers should consider what the goal

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of a rule is and if the rule is actually

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necessary to accomplish that goal oh and

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what else were astronomers and

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scientists able to discover because of

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the quietness of Green Banks a huge

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Super Bubble of hydrogen gas Rising

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nearly 10,000 Lighty years above the

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plane of our Milky Way galaxy this Giant

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Gas bubble contains about a million

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times more mass than the Sun

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with a workplace free of distractions

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astronomers at Green Banks were able to

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reach for the stars literally and you

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can too if you want to be a superstar at

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your organization just remember that

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your role is as strategic as you make