Yes your employer is legally allowed to confiscate your phone while you are at work.

Yes your employer is legally allowed to confiscate your phone while you are at work.
Avvo, attorney answer by Sagar P. Parikh
Business Attorney in Beverly Hills, CA

Q&A Asked in Anaheim, CA
Is it legal for a manager to take your cell phone away? And, in the event money goes missing from phone case, what can be done?

______________________________________

More Firms Ban Smartphones at Work for Safety Reasons

by CoreMark| 

October 05, 2018

More and more employers are banning cell phones in the workplace because they are distracting enough to be a serious safety issue for workers.

Most notably, General Motors has banned all employees, including its CEO, from walking around with their mobile phones while talking, texting or using other smartphone functions.

You already know the dangers of using your phone while behind the wheel, as vehicular deaths have spiked since the ubiquity of smartphones. But in many workplaces – think warehouses, construction sites, factories and other worksites with equipment and inventory – the distraction of a smartphone can have deadly consequences.

On top of that, they are "productivity killers," as a report called them after finding that 75% of employers surveyed said that at least two hours a day were lost to distractions like texting and the Internet. Read more

___________________________________

HR Questions: Can Cell Phones be Banned at Work?

Can an employer ban the use of cell phones at work? How about audio and video recordings?

These questions bring up issues that have been the subject of recent litigation.

Yes, you can limit or even prohibit use of cell phones during work hours. Employees can be expected to give their undivided attention to the work you pay them to perform, and if that means cell phones need to be turned off or put away, you are entitled to make this request. However, employees should be allowed to use cell phones during their break and meal periods, as this time needs to be truly their own in order to satisfy the requirements of state law. Fair warning: if you attempt to prohibit cell phone use during all non-break time, you may receive some fairly aggressive push back. A more lenient policy may do the trick. Our standard language says, "Personal cell phone use should be kept to a reasonable limit during working hours. Reasonableness will be determined by your manager." This language gives your managers considerable discretion, but they should be trained to use the same standard of reasonableness for all employees to avoid claims of discrimination. Read more

____________________________________

Workplace Safety – More Firms Ban Smartphones in Worksites

Should you regulate employee cell phone use in the workplace?

Should You Ban Cell Phones at Work?

Can You Prohibit Employees From Using Cell Phones At Work?

Barnes & Thornburg LLP