Even though their job is fixing stuff for people, it seems like a terrible approach to have them always switching to latest and loudest and never having a time where they can focus on figuring out fixes! I dont think so. But specifically regarding the employee disregarding the rule by continuing to wear the headphones: I have to have noise in my ears to concentrate. Referring to them as a perk would be like calling wearing a belt or a ring a perk. 10 0 obj For the use of headphones to not automatically make them subject to inquiries about what exactly is wrong with them to be allowed headphones when no one else isor have your manager try to prevent you from wearing them just because of the optics (and this applies to oh so many accommodations that look like benefits)its a terrible thing to deal with at work. But without clear guidelines or a headphone policy at work, employees are left to decipher best practices on their own. Youngstown State University has a duty of care for the health and safety of staff, students, contractors and visitors. I think that wearing headphones is better than earbuds because you often cant see if a person is wearing earbuds, with headphones I know right away they cant hear me. /\/\all this up here/\/\ In a 1987 letter, OSHA directed that the use of earphones constituted a violation of OSHA hearing protection standards when: 1. They would still have to take the earbuds out just like taking headphones off. I actually have a bunch of ADHD students who would disagree. If you are wearing earbuds, ensure they are visible. There will still be a momentary pause while they take the buds out. It was a manager instituting a rule for their group that is within their purview. I dont even think you need to specify what the physical therapy is for. Music without lyrics or music you are very familiar with is best for enhancing your concentration. - Craine. At least in my field, that timeline is not weird. There are people here who wait months. So much of my bandwidth is going to trying to block noise or being constantly unnerved by it that I make mistakes and my productivity suffers. Twice a day reporting: if that is something new that has never been asked of you or anyone else before, you need to have a conversation. Some people think that it can look rude, but I dont think its fair to have to live/work in discomfort to make random people more comfortable. I am autistic. Headphones are not a perk. Its probably best to be as vague as possible using Alisons script, weekly medical appointment for the next eight weeksI can definitely get a note from my doctor if you need it.. So thanks for that! Do you prefer I ping you on IM first or is how were doing it okay with you? Employees must not bring their phones to meetings. Im an earbud wearer, and often have people come up to talk to me. Employees deserve better than being punished for reporting problematic situations to HR. This employee was quite upset when I reminded him that we had just discussed it. I hear what youre both saying, but were not talking about a rule where an employee runs the risk of walking around half naked. You dont know whats up. Literally came here to say this. So Im very appreciative of having a little music to offset all that booming going on. Rude? Headphones are one of the few things that make open office hell tolerable. If headphones are a sure sign youre busy, people will be less likely to approach you when youre wearing them. MommyMD pretty frequently takes the least charitable interpretation of an employees behavior and comments accordingly. <> stream Earbuds may not be noticed, which can cause confusion or result in someone trying to speak to you when you cant hear them. It is entirely possible to be productive in an office with noise around you and Im a little taken aback that people seem to think that headphones are natural part of the office when in fact they are a perk. In addition, you may request that they listen to music on their headphones at a lower volume so . Theyre supposed to use the ticketing system (for prioritizing, for tracking, for management visibility). Mobile Phones not Allowed in Workplace Notice | Word & Excel Templates Oooh, the You May Also Like algorithm brings up the letter from the employee whose boss watched her all day by video call as a form of mentoring. I wonder whatever happened with that situation. I cant. Some people find that listening to music can help to minimize outside distractions such as other employee conversations, which helps them stay productive. You may be working your butt off, but maybe you arent prioritizing in the way they want, or maybe working your butt off isnt getting the results they want, and they are trying to understand. Of course, I dont listen. I am more than a bit taken aback that you seem to have trouble empathizing the circumstances in which people are wanting/needing headphones do not affect you in the least. Why is everyone approaching these people for support so often that a 30-second delay for them to take their headphones off has become a problem? And no, I would not remove my headphones/headset, WHICH by the way are also used for online meetings so there. Probably anyone deaf in one ear would still either have to wear one earbud or just go without. One of my co-workers wears headphones and Im often repeating myself when speaking to them, because either I dont know they have them on, or I start talking before the headphones come off. is it unprofessional to have hickeys at work? We have many answers expressing the same opinion, but this one puts it best. 10 minutes after this meeting, I saw this employee with the headphones on in complete disregard. This Employee Cell Phone Policy is ready to be tailored to your company's needs and should beconsidered a starting point for setting up your employment policies. Theyre your employees, not your servants. I%m83M~UrIosU9$N3M~*4)&q Others are not. But buds definitely dont work for my stupid ear holes at all. Earbuds are worse for ear health, so if the headphones are not noise-cancelling headphones that prevent a person from having normal workplace communication, it doesnt seem like a hill to die on. A few seconds to shift gears or a polite inquiry as to next available opportunity is a much better approach. I also came here to say this. If I were one her employees Id be pretty irritated too. If theyre doing other work that also requires focus, this is just a doubly bizarre request. Why you need it has exactly no impact on your bosses or coworkers and you do not owe them any more detail than that you need weekly medical time for X number of weeks. HR may even know about a disability he has disclosed and that is why he went to HR. Yeah, in this day and age no one uses headphones while working. Choose music that will increase your productivity, not hinder it. Ive had men give me some version of this, too. If they came up to me in a huff about how I was in complete disregard of their new mandate? Pick and choose when you wear headphones. Its not that headphones are a natural part of an office, but more that managing your employees to a totally unnecessary level for no reason other than a personal preference is, well petty. Further, even without earbuds, workers must not be on their smartphones while performing work or near any operating equipment. Also, what exactly is the difference between waiting for someone to take off earphones and waiting for someone to pull out an earbud? It takes a second to get them out and pause my music, but Im always responsive as soon as I notice someone come up to stand next to me in my cube. In my case, because I have also always had back issues, I said I was doing PT for my back. The completion and signing is able manually or via a trusted solution e. g. PDFfiller. i would leave, thats ridiculous. The reasons for introducing the ban are: * Wearing headphones make employees seem unapproachable. Allison as someone who is hearing impaired, it is important to also mention that earbuds are more detrimental to your hearing than beats, or another headphone that covers the whole ear. Forget the headphones, I want to know what the expectations are if the employee is working on support issues A, B, and C and someone approaches them about support issue D. Are they expected to drop A, B, and C and start working on D? There are tons of noise-cancelling earbuds, though. Never wear headphones in meetings. Headphones are the best way to opt out of this game. Its actively awful. No Headphones Safety Signs from ComplianceSigns.com Yeah, at my workplace the IT staff I interact with most are the front-facing help desk, so my first reaction was Sure, of course they cant wear headphones!. Headphones are healthier. Headphones have been a natural part of the office in every job Ive held. A good example: texting and driving. They are a tool for productivity. While technically I could do this from the devices internal speaker as well, I work in an open office with several other people who have generally similar jobs and if we all did this then chaos would reign. People in IT need to concentrate, and even one hushed conversation can throw an hour of deep thought off-track. I got the feeling OP felt dangling the revocation of FMLA benefits might convince the co-worker to make that final break or maybe they just want to punish her? It takes but a moment to remove them and were not wasting any time with repeats. I wanted to reply to this. or maybe employee assumed that the manager was a logically functioning adult who when they DID NOT BAN LISTENING TO HEADSETS ALTOGETHER, made the reasonable assumption that this new rule would take into account that people would perhaps need a transition period of one freaking day and not 10 minutes. Yes exactly. Most places Ive been that had a ticket system *also* utilized some level of phone support. Why couldnt it wait until the end of the day to have a meeting to say Okay so starting tomorrow, were going to only use earbuds.. Working in public health care, two weeks sounds crazy fast to me hah! The wailing and gnashing of teeth over headphones is kind of mind boggling to me. CAN she make such a policy decision based on her belief that other people are as bothered by the brief delay it takes to remove headphones (but not by the delay it takes to remove earbuds)? Advantages of PLD use. Theres nothing reasonable about any of that. I think its really just this managers personal bias. I hope you can find something that helps you. Agreed, I think that the LW is probably incorrect in their worry and that most managers wont ask for details. I work in an office with a super-strict no headphones, earbuds, nothing of any kind rule, and I just want to say that it SUCKS. In many situations, companies have been found liable for employees who were making business-related phone calls or text messages while behind the wheel. The earbuds vs. headphones thing makes literally no sense for the reason the OP is complaining about. You should clarify in your policy that failure to adhere to your company rules could be a disciplinary offence, such as misconduct. Not everyone needs them, not everyone wants to wear them, but if there is nothing in your job description that headphones would be incompatible with (front desks, customer-facing roles, what have you), why force people to go above and beyond to get their headphone usage approved, therefore noticeably "special" or "rule-breaking", when most people could benefit from similar usage? At least that is what my doctor told me. It recognizes that many staff and students use audio equipment (audio-visual & multi-media production etc) and other devices (MP3 players, iPods, etc) with headphones/earphones/earbuds and that this may be . CAN she make a policy edict that her preference for earbuds over headphones should be enforced for her team? Because youre being very nit picky LW#1. Headphones are more visible and therefore more off-putting? These applications help to submit . I am on the spectrum, and I dont know whether my distractability from people talking around me is due to that or just bc, but I have been considering purchasing a pair.
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