This post is intended to spark reflection and suggest ways of addressing the topic covered when writing or updating policies and procedures. Your policies and procedures should be written to meet your program’s needs and unique circumstances.
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Staff Cell Phones Overview
Love them or hate them, the great likelihood is that someone on your staff will have – and have questions on how they can use – a cell phone. While assuming that everyone is a trustworthy adult that can operate in the best interest of their workplace at all times is probably the preferred strategy, a policy concerning staff cell phones can be useful for liability reasons.
Before you create your own policy and procedures for staff cell phones, check the regulations of your local licensing agency – there may already be perimeters that you and your staff are expected to operate within.
The first question is whether you will allow staff cell phones in your center/program at all. Are staff permitted to have them on their person and use them on breaks? During rest time? Only in certain rooms, like offices or workrooms? Consider the tone that your policy sets – are staff ‘checking in’ their belongings to you or a locker, or are they trusted to keep their phones secure on their own? What does that imply about your management style?
If you allow staff cell phones, what can they be used for? Are only certain staff members allowed phones? Can a staff member answer a phone call during the work day, and if so, how should they go about doing so? Can they use their cell phone to take photos during operating hours? Are staff members expected to use cell phones for work purposes (such as having one on their person on the playground or during field trips)? Should staff ever contact parents over their cell phone, and will staff phone numbers be available for parents?
The answers to these questions depend on a lot of things – your style as an administrator, the context and size of your center/program, and the self-sufficiency of your staff. What works in one workplace might not work in another, and it might take a few ‘tries’ to create policies and procedures concerning staff cell phones that keep everyone safe, happy, and productive
Where To Include
At Playvolution HQ, we recommend using the Three Handbook Method.
Consider adding this policy to your Staff Handbook.
Considerations Regarding Staff Cell Phones
- There are lots of apps – both free and for a fee – that allow for secure, fast communication between caregivers and parents without sharing personal phone numbers.
- Staff cell phones can also be used for playing music, setting a timer, and having a flashlight – not just phone calls, texting, and photos. (For example, I use my phone in the classroom to play music through a Bluetooth speaker every day.)
- What are the steps for a caregiver who violates the policy about staff cell phones? How do those steps compare when a caregiver violates other policies?
Sample Policies
NOTE: The following samples are real-world examples relating to this post’s topic and are provided as a reference for creating your own policies and procedures. Sharing them here is not a recommendation of their content.
Sample 1
Phones
Employees are not permitted to make or receive personal telephone calls during work hours unless authorized to do so by the Director or in the event of an emergency. This includes using one’s own cell phone and/or excessive texting. Cell phones are not prohibited in the
classroom, but employees are expected to use them only when appropriate or necessary.
Teddy Bear Child Care Center, Indiana, USA
Sample 2
Telephone Usage Policy
Personal cell phones must be checked into the office upon arrival; at the time that you collect your ID badge. You may retrieve your cell phone at the end of your shift or during your scheduled break.
Personal use of the phone during scheduled hours should be limited to emergencies. The use of personal cell phones during working hours for phone calls or text messaging is prohibited.
ABC Academy, Mississippi, USA
Sample 3
Cell Phones
It is important that every staff member’s attention remains on the children at all times. A second’s lapse in attention could result in a serious accident, which, with appropriate supervision, would have been prevented. Therefore: Cell phones are not permitted in any of the program rooms with the exception of lead teachers for documentation purposes.
Cell phones should remain turned off and stored in a purse, bag, coat, classroom cell phone box, or the office, etc. while a staff member is clocked in. Cell phone use is permitted only during an approved break, and never in a classroom. It is never appropriate to make a personal phone call, send a text message, check voicemail, etc. while in the presence of children, even while on an approved break.
It is expected that when leaving the center for any reason (walk, field trip, etc.), one staff member will carry with them a cell phone. In this circumstance, the cell phone should only be used in the event of an emergency and not for personal calls/text messaging.
In the event of an emergency, the staff member must inform both the Lead Teacher and Director and/or Assistant Director of the situation. In this case, cell phones must be set to vibrate. Calls may be answered only after a substitute has arrived to replace the staff member, and outside of the classroom. Ratios must be maintained at all times.
Lilypad Learning Center, Iowa, USA
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