Having your cell phone at work can be useful but it can also be very disruptive. Your friends and family can reach you anytime, anywhere, and these interruptions can not only interfere with your work -- they can be annoying to others who work with you -- and bring bad work habits to the attention of your boss.

When you are on your own time, the choice to turn off your cell phone is entirely yours. But when you are at work, you are expected to be mindful of your co-workers and your ability to get your job done.

We do not expect you to use your cell phone in the course of your work -- if your duties require you to use a cell phone, we will provide one to you.

Use of personal cell phones in the workplace during work time is restricted and subject to a few common-sense rules that you are expected to observe when you bring your cell phone to work. The rules are:

1) Turn Your Ringer Off when you come to work  -- If you need to know when someone is trying to reach you, set your phone to "vibrate" to alert you to an incoming call. The sounds of multiple mindless, juvenile ring tones going off during the workday is thoughtless and annoying to others.

2) Let Phone Calls Go to Voice Mail -- If you are in doubt about whether an incoming call is important, let voice mail pick it up. If you do not have voice mail or know how it works, ask any 9-year old. Get the service and learn how it works. Remember when you had to go home to listen to your answering machine? At work, that is what your phone is --an answering machine.

3) Use Your Cell Phone Only for Important Calls -- What should you classify as an important call? The school nurse calling to say your child is ill, or your child calling to say they have arrived home from school safely, or family emergencies that you must deal with immediately are important. If you MUST answer a vibrating phone, the first thing to say is: "Is this an emergency?" Friends calling to chat, or your child calling to ask you to bring home a pizza, or your mom calling to tell you that a cousin is engaged or pregnant or both -- these are NOT important calls! Not important to (company name) anyway. Turn the ronger off, or put your phone on "vibrate".

4) Find a Private Place to Make Your Cell Phone Calls -- Using your cell phone for personal calls is permitted during breaks, but NOT at your desk or work station. You may be on a break, but your co-workers have work to do. Find somewhere else to talk, where you can't be overheard -- even if what you are talking about is not personal.

5) Never Use Your Cell Phone In A Restroom -- This should apply to using your cell phone at work or anywhere else. You never know who else is in there and the person on the other end of the call will hear sounds of toilets flushing and other noises. Use of a phone in a restroom is an invasion of another's privacy.

6) Never Bring Your Cell Phone to Any Meeting -- Even if you have your cell phone set to vibrate, if you receive a call you will be tempted to see who it is.  Doing that can be hazardous to your professional reputation and your continued employment status. Taking calls during a meeting is like taking a phone call during dinner or while you are making love -- it is downright rude and a clear signal that you are not 100 percent focused on what you are supposed to be doing. ALL calls can wait until your meeting is over -- or until there is a break. Meetings don't last forever...it just seems that way. There will be a break.

Supervisors and managers are expected to set a personal example in the strict adherence to and enforcement of this policy.

Please remember...there was a time before we all had cell phones -- that time has returned to our workplace.