Today with David McCullagh
Banning phones in the workplace: Is it a workable solution for distracted employees?
07 May 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: How do smartphones contribute to workplace distractions?
Now, we all know that smartphones can be addictive and many of us have probably been guilty of failing to pay full attention to a conversation or to what we're supposed to be watching on the TV because we have our phone in our hands. But what about using our phones for personal reasons while we're in work? More and more employers are introducing strict phone bans.
But do these policies really increase productivity and improve health and safety or do they negatively impact the well-being of employees? Our reporter Maura Fay asked people in Mullingar if your employer should be able to prevent you having your mobile phone with you while you work.
No, I don't think so. Personally, where I work, a lot of times we're already done with the work. We're clean, we're waiting for customers and we've done all this to do. And also, you may need your phone for an emergency. For me, I might have to get a call from my mum or from my sister. So... I don't think employers should be able to take it off of you.
So if you're having a bit of downtime at work or a bit of quiet time, you should be allowed to be on your phone?
Yeah, I believe so. I mean, if you've all your jobs done, you're, like... I work fast food, so, like, you're stocked up, you're cleaned, the grill is ready to go, you've done everything that pretty much needs to be done. I think you should be allowed, yeah.
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Chapter 2: What are the implications of strict phone bans in the workplace?
Um, that's actually a good question. I think there's... a certain element to it that you should be allowed your phone at break time or whatever but while you're actually at work I don't think so like when you're actually on the clock no absolutely not no I think you should be allowed your phone but like with respect
You know, use your phone on your break and stuff like that, but you should be allowed to have your phone for emergencies with children and so on. So say, for instance, you got a call from the school or something like that, you should be able to take that while you're at work? Oh yeah, of course. I work and I've got kids, so yeah, it's very important to have the phone near me at all times.
I know lots of people who aren't allowed their phones and it's hard to contact them if they need it. So how does school contact them then? They obviously have to leave work number, you know, so they have to contact school and school, contact the workplace and they work, they contact them and work. So it's a lot of...
pain in most circumstances I would say no that you should be allowed them but I guess in some instances for maybe data security possibly I could understand why a phone wouldn't be allowed to work I do to be honest because I mean they're paying you to pay attention do you know so if it's your personal phone then I would think no you shouldn't whereas if it's a work phone obviously yeah because they're paying that bill that's my opinion anyway
Chapter 3: What do employees in Mullingar think about phone restrictions at work?
Some people might say that they need their phone on them in case they need to be contacted in case of emergency. What would you say to that? Like, the reality is everyone's going to have it in their pocket. They're going to glance at it. So if there's something that's serious, you know, you can address it, you know, or step out to have a look at it.
You know, it's not like a prison or anything that, you know, you're not going to completely lock it away for the day. But as long as you're not sitting at your desk like a plain snake, you know, I think that's kind of fair.
What about a system where you would be required to lock away your phone for the day?
That's probably a little bit too much. Like say I've got two kids and if there's something wrong at home that I need to address, then I need to be able to look at it and know when there's a problem. But I think there's a balance somewhere in the middle that you're not kind of taking the mink. You know, it's not under strict control either.
The people of Mullingar talking to Maura Fay there, and they sure do love their phones. To find out more about this issue, I'm joined by Professor in Business Analytics and Society at the University of Galway, Owen Whelan, and by Employment Law Solicitor with Melanie Walsh-Maxwells, Michelle Lochnan. You're both very welcome. Owen, I might start with you.
We've heard a lot in recent years about how, your phone in your pocket can lead to your personal time being invaded by work. We haven't really heard as much about what happens when it happens in the other direction.
Yeah, good morning, David. And this is something we did a study on ourselves a few years ago. There was a pharmaceutical company that had a ban on smartphones in the workplace. I guess they were concerned about for safety reasons that if employees are walking around and there's dangerous chemicals, that could be a health and safety hazard. So they always had a ban.
But then recently, the employees, they wanted access to their fans, like some of your speakers were mentioning in the VoxTop, just to be contacted from the outside. So they decided to do a trial to see what would happen in the company when the ban was overturned and employees could use their phones in the workplace. So we studied this.
We gathered data before the ban or when the ban was in place and what happened after. We had a group of employees who, even though they could use their phone, they decided not to use their phone. They liked not being contacted during work. And some employees did. So what we found overall, there was no difference in performance or productivity.
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Chapter 4: How do personal emergencies affect phone usage policies?
And some of the managers are very sceptical about overturning the ban, but they came to realise that it didn't actually have an effect on performance and productivity. And I guess the important thing, David, is the context is important here. We're not talking about someone checking their phone 200 times a day or
spending two hours scrolling TikTok or something, this was reasonable access to their phone that if someone needed to contact them or they needed to, you know, send a message very quickly for a minute or two during the workday, it was just that ability to know that they were being, could be contacted, that reduced stress for them.
And actually it acted a positive impact on what we call work-life conflict. That when they weren't contacted, their partner, if they had to look after kids, their partner had to take up a lot of responsibilities. And that actually created some issues in the family life when they got home in the evening at the end of their shift.
Okay, so if you have your phone on you and you know that you can be contacted, it actually reduces your stress?
Yeah, it reduces the anxiety. And the interesting thing about our study, what was surprising to all, is it was actually the younger workers, they were the ones who really wanted not to have their phone in the workplace.
Really?
So the guys who just came out, yeah, and a surprise to me as well, the digital natives, as we call them, So we expected those guys to be constantly glued to their phones, but no, they felt that in their personal lives they were over-connected and they liked having the opportunity of not being connected when they were in the workplace.
It was actually the older employees who had maybe kids or had parents they had to look after or other responsibilities outside of the workplace, they were the ones who were putting pressure on the company to reverse the phone ban.
Okay, and did I understand you correctly to say that the phone ban in this particular company was originally put in on safety grounds, health and safety, was it?
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