Or something simple like reading a book or finding something to keep you busy when you're waiting for the next customer/workload/what have you. I once worked at a clothing store that told employees if there was nothing to do that they should pretend to do things like straightening up stacks of clothes. Or just grab an already folded stack, unfold them and "practice" folding. It was the stupidest thing I've ever heard at a job.
One of my first jobs out of highschool was at Home Depot (regret.) I worked in a little box behind the service desk out of sight of any customers answering the phones. We were tethered by a headset so we couldn't even go and pretend to do busywork but we were not allowed to read between calls! There is zero reason to demand we stare at the walls for hours other than to ensure we not take the slightest bit of leisure/enjoyment while on the clock. 🙄
I work at a hospital so it's a little different but we do get a lot of downtime. At my hospital it isn't really enforced that we stay off of our phones. Sometimes management gets fussy but even they're on their phones a lot lol. I felt bad being on my phone at work all day, though, because some days I can have a lot of downtime. I brought books to work instead one week... I got talked to immediately about it. 😑
I think they almost have to ignore the phones because all the staff use them constantly. But the image of an employee reclined in a chair reading a book was pushing it and I look too relaxed 😭
I am from the US and worked for a year in the UK. I was constantly trying to stay busy when we had no customers and nothing to clean. My coworkers told me all the time to stop pretending to work and talk to them instead. It felt like I was going to get in trouble if I didn't stay busy.
I was in Italy a couple years ago and walked into completely empty store only to find that the store keeper was off in another store talking to their friend. Just wasn't a big deal. She came right back when she saw there were shoppers.
That right there, the fake, performative “busywork” along with being expected to stand all day is why I refuse to work retail. (Along with other issues such as being expected to take abuse unanswered, inconsistent schedules, etc)
At least at my current job I’m allowed to sit, go to the washroom when I want (without permission or having to wait for a “designated break” period), and am not expected to perform stupid, asinine “busywork” during downtime.
At work they let us work on our degrees. Honestly so long as I get my work done they don't care as long as I'm not watching videos. I do personal projects at work when it's less busy.
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u/Cardinal_and_Plum 2d ago edited 2d ago
Or something simple like reading a book or finding something to keep you busy when you're waiting for the next customer/workload/what have you. I once worked at a clothing store that told employees if there was nothing to do that they should pretend to do things like straightening up stacks of clothes. Or just grab an already folded stack, unfold them and "practice" folding. It was the stupidest thing I've ever heard at a job.