After five years of service (99.7% attendance, always on time), I was fired for looking at my phone at the end of my shift.
They dragged me through 6 meetings with 8 different managers, analyzing CCTV repeatedly. The upstairs operations manager (bitter and vindictive) decided "trust could not be mended."
A source confirmed the truth: all firing decisions have been centralized to him. He is using disciplinary dismissals to cut staff during a work drought because it is cheaper than paying the redundancies expected later this year.
Now, I know there will be people who say "too bad, you broke health and safety" — but let me tell you: over the last 5 years, ASDA have colonised my phone with vital information and messages. We are actually required to bring our phone and use it — for shift management and even time management. Three apps are added that are vital for ASDA staff, and they send phone messages regularly to tell us important information for that shift. When you are caught, they ASSUME you regularly use it. I feel unlucky because I was not a habitual user of the phone.
Fortunately, I scored a better job with a better employer the next day and don't feel anything has been lost.
Advice to Senior Management:
Stop hiding behind "loss of trust" to avoid paying redundancy. Treat long-serving staff with the respect they earned. A phone check at the end of a shift should not end a five-year career to save a few pounds. And stop forcing staff to install apps on personal phones if you are then going to fire them for touching those same phones.