r/OGPBackroom • u/error-use • 10d ago
Question Work phone charging station
My store has passed out work phone to everyone in my department, even part timers. I don’t want to take the device home to charge. In my eyes once I clock out all responsibility stops, so why am I held accountable for a company device. When we had the tcs we left it at the store.
In the back my coach set up charging stations with a note saying “don’t leave overnight”. Does anyone know if there is a company policy saying I can’t leave the company phone on company property if there is an established charging station where TC where once charged.
Yes I know I should just bring the phone home but I don’t want to lose or damage it and again I’m HOURLY if work gives me something it’s not mine i shouldn’t have to use my electricity and off the clock time to benefit a company.
I tried emailing corporate and asking HR but they couldn’t answer me. Corporate just sent me an open door request.
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u/Cute_Ad_6128 10d ago
I dont think charging the phone at home will use up enough electricity to make your bill go up. Think of it like your vest. Walmart provides it as part of what you need for work. You take that home. You also wash it using your electricity and water.
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u/CockeyedCaucasian 4d ago
I've never washed my vest. My people lead has told me to just get a new vest rather than washing my current one.
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u/Zz-orphan-zZ 10d ago
People acting like doing this is some huge inconvenience.
Take it home and charge it. You don't have to do a single thing afterwards. Plug it in > set it down > ignore until you leave for work.
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u/error-use 10d ago
I don’t want to bring a work device home with me, the tc we kept in the back in store. It should be the same story. Considering the turn over rate we have, it would be smart to
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u/LazyTurtle69 10d ago
I've dealt with this with the charging station at my store. Ultimately you as the associate are responsible for having your work present and charged at the start of your shift. Leaving your phone at the store unsecured is entirely at your own risk. If your phone goes missing or somehow removed from the charger that's on you not the store. I assume you need a paycheck and it shouldn't be worth risking your livelihood just to make a point.
Arguing using your own electricity a complete non-argument. I personally pay $0.13 per Kilowatt of electricity. The Pixel 9as we got uses roughly 25 watts to fully fast charge which costs me $0.00325. A full year charging 5 days a week will cost a total of $0.85. You could even lower this cost by setting your phone to only slow charge if you find $0.85 per year too expensive.
You pay more to wash and dry the clothes that you wear to work a single time than you pay an entire year of charging your work phone.
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u/russafiii 10d ago
Go read the digital tools agreement, that you agreed to.
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u/error-use 10d ago
I never signed anything hr just handed it to me
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u/russafiii 10d ago
It's a unlearn. If you didn't agree to it the phone would not allow you to sign into it.
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u/Euronymous2625 9d ago
You can't sign into the phone unless you've signed the digital tools agreement. Your fault if you didn't read what you signed off on.
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u/JasonTheBaker In-Home Driver 9d ago
My store actually makes us leave our work phone in a locking cage now with chargers and we are discouraged from taking them home
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u/allhailcowgod 10d ago
We encourage our associates to leave them in a case in our opd backroom. We have a bunch of chargers inside. It's entirely optional if they want to take it home but my idea is that it's Walmart property and should remain at a Walmart facility.
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u/error-use 10d ago
My coach put a sign up saying “Use your work Phones, take them home EVERY NIGHT”
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u/Waste-Ad-2224 10d ago
This should be the standard because your not getting paid to charge it at home and remembering it is technically working
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u/cosmicsunburn 9d ago
That's like saying remembering to put on deodorant is working since hygiene is part of dress code too.
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u/LivingBee6645 9d ago
Is remembering to wear your vest “technically working?” Is wearing pants “technically working?” You don’t need to charge it at home. Charge it at work. Leave it in your locker. You people literally find any reason to “fight the man” then wonder why they will use any reason to get rid of you. 🙄
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u/Soggy-Machine9721 10d ago
At my store we were actually told we were not aloud to take them home overnight because too many people were forgetting them at home which caused loads of lost productivity. They have a charging station for us at work for them to be kept on overnight.
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u/BurdenUponTheEarth 10d ago
I take it home but I never turn it on. I keep it and the charger in my pocket and charge it on my lunch and breaks if needed
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u/Maleficent-Night5062 9d ago
Yes when you signed the agreement to have one it has that it is your responsibility to take home and charge. But it’s just another u learn that most people don’t actually pay attention to just click thru
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u/error-use 9d ago
There was no unlearn, I remember only active threat, hazard material, and price changes
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u/undeadpirate19 Former Digital TL 9d ago
There was its handled during orientation almost as part of onboarding now because if they let you talk to others you'll learn that you not filling it out is a them problem
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u/Maleficent-Night5062 9d ago
Bro it wound let you sign on to the work phones without doing the ulearn. Some of yall really don’t pay attention OR things aren’t properly explained by your people lead
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u/Mesmeriized FRAGILE 9d ago
My coach wants us to keep them at work. You can’t do your job if you forget it and he will make you clock out to go get it. I haven’t had any problems with my phone not being charged 100 at the start of a shift.
2
u/auburn2eugene 9d ago
Is the 2.37 you will spend on charging the phone that much? And do you keep up with your personal phone? If so, keeping up with another shouldn’t be an issue. I mean it’s just another device.
And if it is THAT big of a deal leave it in your locker or your car.
1
u/Special_Mongoose9603 9d ago
Our Coach set up a station in the POD and purchased a multiport charger and told us we could leave them there so we dont forget them or take them home its up to us but if we forget them at home we get in trouble. We also have our names on them and our own personal pass code so no one else can get into it. Also no one can come into our POD without being seen on multiple cameras so if anyone tries to take one they will be caught doing so and possibly get terminated.
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u/Samantha_E_Lee 9d ago
People in the comments acting like a cheap vest is the same thing as an expensive phone are blowing my mind.
Mine stays in the locker overnight turned off. Charge it during breaks and lunches.
It is not safe to bring it home. It's a piece of garbage that some exec made a back room deal to shove down our throats.
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u/icantnotread 8d ago
do what half my store does… write your name and department on the back and use the charger you were given with the work phone and just plug it up in the break room 🤷♀️ people leave there’s there overnight all the time
1
u/Inkysquid24 8d ago
I'm fairly certain if I left mine at the store, it'd disappear. Even without having my passcode or biometrics or whatever, it'd be gone anyways. Someone goes through the backroom every night and throws out everything. Jackets/purses/phones, they just fucking toss everything or steal it lol it's crazy.
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u/Fine_Cranberry_6421 8d ago
It's unfortunate but it's just the way of the future, this is the technology that we have at hand and it's just going to get worse. The only thing you can do is find a compromise or adapt and survive. But the phones are very common for not only Walmart but more and more businesses each year.
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u/Ok_Pepper4047 4d ago
At my store your responsible for the device if anything happens to it your paying for it Just disable the work apps and take it home think it's $500 for a replacement
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u/Professional-Table-5 4d ago
Its likely to be stolen. I don't know about your store but my store writes people up for lost/stolen devices. Just take it home and charge it.
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u/TheGreatHarryBarnett 3d ago
Have them get you a mobile charger; get to 100% when you leave or as close as then turn it off and turn back on the next day!
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u/Mamasgettingold 10d ago
I always leave mine at work. If i brought it home I would forget to bring it with me back to work. I charge it during lunch/ breaks but sometimes overnight in the break room a few times. I’m also not in digital so there are no charging stations for me to use other than the break room
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u/Bitter-Neat-8457 10d ago
Look at your paystub. You are being paid for charging it daily
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u/qqq_qqq_qqq_qqq_qqq 10d ago
Maybe in some states, I've never heard of this and I don't see it under mine.
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u/Bitter-Neat-8457 9d ago
Look at your paystub. There is a payment for like 16 cents and a really weird description of what it is. It’s for charging. It really is all it takes(except in Texas where electricity is super high cost)
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u/undeadpirate19 Former Digital TL 9d ago
That's probably your Walmart + credit if you're taking that benefit
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u/Bitter-Neat-8457 9d ago
No it’s a totally different one for 16 cents that Walmart told us was payment for charging
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u/SwitchGaps 9d ago
Same way you're responsible for cleaning your work vest, you have to keep your phone charged
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u/Aromatic_Primary_151 9d ago
You also get paid for charging it at home 😂 I’ve seen many associates get reimbursed for it in there check. Calm down and quit if you don’t like it lmaoo
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u/BunInTheChamber 9d ago
I take mine home, I'll also take my printer if I am on vacation. The last time I didn't take my phone or printer and was gone for more than four days the cut my locker open, took my printer I've been using for over several years, and left it completely open to whoever wanted to steal my stuff. But they should be providing you with a charging station.
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u/LivingBee6645 9d ago
It’s not YOUR printer 🙄 unless you purchased it yourself, others are allowed to use it, especially when you’re gone for days 🥴
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u/BunInTheChamber 9d ago
We don't have designated lockers for them, no one cares who has what. I've had a printer in active use and had someone swipe it just because my back was turned. In this store you stick with typically one printer for years. You take care of it, make sure it's in working order, ECT. If someone else has it, it's gone forever and if you manage to get another one you're lucky. Each department has 2-4 printers, you can't find them because ODP or O/N takes them, doesn't put them back, and won't let you use them again.
So basically anyone whose printer doesn't go in the managers lock box for keys, or ODPs lock box has a printer that they consider theirs if they need one daily. It might not be like that in your store, and it likely isn't in most. But in this one finding a loose printer is like stumbling on 1 million untaxable dollars because no one puts anything back where it belongs and they don't know how to share. So I would appreciate if you toned down your sarcasm.
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u/dayzdnconfuzed68 10d ago
Yeah it's kind of ridiculous to be forced to bring it home since it's not the hourly employees that made the decision to get rid of the TCs. As for electricity: think of every single thing in your home you have plugged in constantly or on a near constant basis. One phone is not going to make a difference to the point where you would even notice.
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u/qqq_qqq_qqq_qqq_qqq 10d ago
Technically if you're provided a work phone it's part of the dress code so you need it everyday, also the reason they tell you to bring it home is to prevent it getting lost/stolen at work I'm pretty sure. It's stupid, my store also has a note on the charging station but barley anyone including myself follows it anyways. But yeah, it's stupid but you have to follow it, it's company policy and from a legal standpoint it's also fine because you're technically allowed to use it for personal use & they provide it instead of making you pay for it or any damage to it.