Laptop in work...Is it illegal ?

I have had my new laptop for about 3 weeks. I had to save up for a while and it cost nearly £700. Laptops are banned in my work place which is fair enough coz they can be a distraction to my job.

However, there are 4 businesses in our building and my boss only owns one small section of it for his shop and during my lunch hour i go off into one of the other sections where i use my laptop in a quiet corner where noone bothers me or minds me doing.

I only use it during my lunch break and I am not paid by the boss during my lunch break but hes still kicking off saying laptops are banned from the whole building etc etc even though most of it doesnt belong to him... he really does not want me to have it but i think hes in the wrong here

I can get online via a wireless connection that isnt his works computer so Im not affecting his comp at all.

I dont want to lose my job but i dont think Im doing anything wrong am I ?

Any thourghts or advice would be very much appreciated!

 

Ask the building owner/manager if laptops are banned from the building.

 

The boss is the boss, whether he is wrong or not, you better be in good terms with him to keep your job, assuming that you need one

Another option is to leave it in your car trunk and use it at lunch, you can even go to the nearest hot spot and get a good cafe late and chat with all your girl friends

 

^ agreed. It is probably best you do three things if you want to use your laptop in work. Firstly, talk to the building manger and get permission. Then ask the owner of the Wireless hotspot if you can use his/her connection; its there connection after-all. Finally talk to your boss civilly and request kindly if you can use the internet; giving a few reasons ect. The boss might just want people from his business not appearing lazy or slouching about ect. Hope this helps.

 

If you like your job do what your boss says. Why argue him?

 

^^^^
yep

if he hires and fires, it's his opinion that counts. Why butt heads with your boss, even if you're right. You lose in the long run!!!!!!

 

Yup, even if that means cutting off the heads of recalcitrant customers, and storing them in the freezer in the back!

Ooops, sorry, wrong movie-theatre!

 

Man, what is going on with you Shyster1? You just got a new car and now is already crashed!

I don't like his job, especially if I will find those heads in the freezer

 

No your not doing anything wrong. You do have workplace rights. On your lunch breaks, you can do whatever you want but if building management says laptops are banned then they have full rights to this.

Your boss is just an a-hole imo . Im not sure if unfair dismissals can be challenged by law in your country, so just to be safe just follow what your boss says.

I bring my laptop to work all the time, its very flashy and my boss and workmates even said it looks good.

 

What an embarassingly spineless response!

And another!

Finally, someone with some common sense.

If you are on your own time, and outside of the company premises (and network), your boss has no say whatsoever in what you do. Tell him to mind his own damn business. If he's the building manager and you're in his building, yes you have to listen to him. But if he is not the building manager, and you are not in his part of the building, tell him to piss off.

 

Don't forget to leave your name and contact address in case vodkalobster loses his job for following your suggestion, he might want to look for you

 

I just gotta say is one hour a day on your laptop really worth rockin the boat at work? I see people make the worst decisions with their "free time" and often wonder how they can justify it? Smoking, cell phones, porn sites on the net, excessive BS'ing and extra breaks you name it. I'll bet I've seen it. Go ahead, push your luck. It'll be a great story to tell in the unemployment line. It won't increase your government stipend and it won't look good on a resume. But hey you stayed up to date with your email.

 

Is also a question of perception, although it is not the dictionary definition, socially speaking we say that "perception is reality", why? Because no matter how right you are about using your laptop in an area that is allowed, for your boss you will be rebellious, and that's all what will count for him.

BTW, another working environment fact is that your boss will not remember you for all the good things you do, but for that very "one" thing you did wrong, so think carefully when taking your decision.

Once I had a very similar situation and I discussed it with my boss, and very calmly he said to me, if you don't like it you know what to do, I understood very quickly, either I abide by it or I was free to take the door.

 

Yah! What're you doing wasting the boss' time with something as trivial and irrelevant as bathroom breaks, if you're not man enough to hold it in until you clock out, then start wearing a diaper to work! Wacky slackers; wasting the boss' time and money - why, I'll bet that the average slacker blows half an hour of the boss' time on loo breaks alone, what with unzipping, dropping the drawers, sitting down, wiping, getting up, zipping, and, for the truly idle, washing up afterward!

It may seem trivial to you, but if you're on your own time, it's yours to do with as you please, whether you please to do trivial things or save the world.