Are You Paying Your Employees to Scroll?

Be honest for a moment.

How much time do you think your employees spend on their phones during paid work hours?
Not on breaks.
Not before or after shifts.
During time you are paying them to work.

Most business owners do not really know. Many would rather not look too closely. Yet phone use at work is not just a productivity issue. Handled poorly, it can turn into a legal and management problem very quickly.

The obvious cost most people underestimate

Lost productivity is the easy part to calculate.

If an employee spends one to two hours a day on their phone, that can be up to a quarter of their paid time. Across a small team, this adds up fast. The cost shows up as missed deadlines, slower output, or work that needs redoing.

What often goes unnoticed is that productivity loss rarely happens in isolation. It usually points to something deeper.

Where the real risk begins

Problems start when phone use is addressed without structure.

Picture this scenario.

You notice an employee on their phone frequently. You make a casual comment asking them to cut back. There is no formal conversation, no documentation, and no reference to a policy.

Nothing changes.

Eventually, you terminate their employment due to performance concerns. The employee challenges the decision and claims they were never warned, never given clear expectations, and never given a chance to improve.

From a legal perspective, they may be right.

Without a policy, a documented conversation, or a clear process, the termination becomes hard to defend.

When assumptions create bigger problems

Phone use is not always what it appears to be.

An employee may be dealing with a family emergency, a medical issue, or a mental health concern. Addressing the behaviour without understanding the context can create risk around discrimination or unfair treatment.

In other cases, the phone may be a work tool. Emails, scheduling systems, messaging apps, and work platforms often live on personal devices. Disciplining someone for phone use without clarity can prevent them from doing their job.

The issue is not the phone itself.
The issue is uncertainty.

The deeper problem behind the scrolling

Phone use is usually a symptom, not the root cause.

In many workplaces, expectations are assumed rather than stated. Employees are not entirely sure what “good performance” looks like. They are unclear about priorities, boundaries, and outcomes.

When expectations are vague:

• Employees guess what matters

• Managers become frustrated when work does not meet unspoken standards

• Feedback feels personal rather than objective

• Conflict escalates faster than it should

Most people want to do their job well. They struggle when they are unclear on what success actually means.

Why policy matters more than policing

Trying to control behaviour without a framework rarely works.

A clear phone policy provides structure without micromanagement. It sets boundaries around when phones can be used, for what purpose, and what happens if expectations are not met.

Equally important is consistency. Enforcing rules with one employee and ignoring the same behaviour in another creates risk. Perceived unfairness often leads to complaints long before performance becomes the issue.

Privacy also matters. Employers cannot monitor personal devices, read messages, or track activity without consent. Observation must stay focused on work output and behaviour, not personal data.

What effective workplaces do differently

Workplaces that manage this well focus less on inputs and more on outcomes.

Clear job descriptions help employees understand their role and responsibilities. Performance standards explain what success looks like in practical terms. Feedback becomes easier when it is anchored to agreed expectations rather than personal frustration.

A structured performance process protects everyone. Conversations are documented, improvement opportunities are provided, and decisions follow a fair sequence.

Flexibility still exists. Context still matters. Compassion still plays a role. The difference is that boundaries are clear and applied consistently.

When people know what is expected, phone use often becomes a non-issue.

Why this matters for your business

Unclear expectations cost time, money, and energy.

They lead to repeated conversations that go nowhere.
They create tension between managers and staff.
They increase legal exposure when decisions are challenged.

Clarity reduces friction. Structure reduces conflict. Consistency reduces risk.

Questions worth asking yourself

You can sense-check your own workplace with a few simple questions:

• Do we have a written phone or device policy, and does everyone know it exists?

• Can employees clearly explain what good performance looks like in their role?

• Do we document performance conversations when standards are not met?

• Are expectations applied consistently across the team?

• Do we focus on outcomes rather than constant monitoring?

Any hesitation here points to an opportunity to tighten your foundations.

If you needed to address performance tomorrow, could you confidently point to clear expectations and a fair process?

If not, what is the first step you will take to fix that?