Company Slammed for Threatening to Dock Month's Pay for Charging Phones

A company that allegedly banned cell phones from being charged, turned on or even visible at work has prompted outrage online.

An image of the alleged policy has circulated broadly on social media, amassing 64,000 votes on Reddit's popular "Antiwork" forum. The signed acknowledgment form was handed to an employee as part of his new hire paperwork, according to anonymous poster u/sleazycookies.

This Redditor told Newsweek that the new employee was her boyfriend, who recently started working at a distribution center for a sporting goods company in Florida. She declined to identify her boyfriend, herself or the company for fear of retaliation at his job.

Her boyfriend sent a photo of the policy before turning off his phone, she said. When she understood why he would be unreachable, she was "immediately upset."

According to her viral image, the form required that all cell phones be "turned off at work at all times" and "completely out of sight." Women were directed to keep their powered-down devices in purses, bags or desks, while men were told to conceal them in desks or pockets.

"You are not permitted to charge your cell phone at work," added the form. "There is no need to charge it if you aren't going to use it. Charge it at home."

Anyone who broke these rules would have their wages docked $2 per hour for one month after the first occurrence, said the employer. After a second violation, the employee would be fired.

"This is not a joke, and I suggest that you do not test this new policy's validity, as there is zero tolerance towards cell phone use at work," said the threatening form. "You are paid to work, not use your cell phone. If you think you can't find something to do, start cleaning the entire store. Then when you're done with that, start over cleaning the entire store."

The final line said that anyone who needed to reach employees should use the workplace's telephone number.

The employee's girlfriend, who said she has epilepsy, was angry that she could not call him directly for help.

"The thought that, in an emergency, I would have to call his employer in order to speak to him was disturbing," she said. "This is not a secret service job, he did not apply thinking such stringent policies would be in place. I worry that he might be punished just for messaging him, and that would affect our finances significantly."

Although many human resources experts discourage docking pay to penalize employees who violate a written policy, the practice is technically legal, according to the Society for Human Resource Management. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not prohibit employers from lowering a non-exempt worker's hourly wage as a disciplinary action, as long as the reduction does not bring their pay below minimum wage.

According to the warehouse worker's girlfriend, he earns a wage of $15 per hour. The minimum wage in Florida is $10 per hour.

Other Redditors gathered to bash the employer and raise a host of concerns.

"Many folks are also parents. You can't just up and disappear and be unreachable if you have children," commented one user.

"A lot of diabetics rely on the phone for insulin scheduling," raised another reader. "This could be an ADA lawsuit."

A third user commented darkly, "Next week there will be a memo sent out that you can't wear a watch at work."