Good for Disney!

[Feralpeg]

Disney announced that it will not tolerate its cast members texting while driving if they are on Disney property. It doesn't matter whether they are driving a Disney vehicle or their own vehicle. If they are caught texting while driving on Disney property, they will be disciplined. They plan on handling it on a case by case basis. This is true of both WDW and Disneyland employees.

Too bad there is not a way for other companies to institute something along these lines.

 

[lovetoscrap]

Can they extend that to guests too?

 

[Feralpeg]

Can they extend that to guests too?

I wish they could!

 

[mickaholic4077]

As much as I hate the whole texting while driving thing,if they are in their own vehicles on their own time,I don't think it's Disney's business what they do.

 

[RayaniFoxmur]

Disney announced that it will not tolerate its cast members texting while driving if they are on Disney property. It doesn't matter whether they are driving a Disney vehicle or their own vehicle. If they are caught texting while driving on Disney property, they will be disciplined. They plan on handling it on a case by case basis. This is true of both WDW and Disneyland employees.

Too bad there is not a way for other companies to institute something along these lines.

Actually... if they are caught at all, whether they are on Disney Property or not.

It doesn't matter if the employee is on or off Disney property. In fact, it doesn't matter where the employee is in the country, if they are on the clock and texting while driving, they could lose their jobs.

-Click Orlando Local 6
http://www.clickorlando.com/news/25804802/detail.html

I don't text and drive. I don't think that anyone should. But I'm not sure I agree with this new policy. It really hasn't been well clarified to some of the front line cast members... in fact most of the people I've talked to heard about it on the news like the general public. If you're going to have a policy like this, you need to get the word out more effectively. And it's been so thrown around by the media I've heard it's whether you're on property or off, whether you're on the clock or not... etc etc.

 

[ilovefh]

As much as I hate the whole texting while driving thing,if they are in their own vehicles on their own time,I don't think it's Disney's business what they do.

They can't do anything about that. The policy states that this applies to CM's driving company vehicles or their own for "company business.". The reality is this is still legal in FL so unless you are on the clock there is nothing they can do about it.

Now to me this honestly seems like common sense this, but I realize that common sense doesn't apply to some. If you're on "company business" you shouldn't be using your phone at all.

DH thankfully has common sense. He is a bus driver and his phone remains in his lunchbox in the storage container on the bus.

 

[136368]

There are laws here that ban the use of mobile phones during driving. I think that hands free sets are OK, but I'm not sure. And you know what? I'm glad. The number of times in the past I'm seen someone swerving about and driving poorly who are on the phone is scary!

 

[luvsJack]

They may not can fire someone for texting in their own car once they leave the property, but they certainly should be able to while on property.

Casinos can fire off the clock employees for gambling in their casino (now they can go to any OTHER casino but not to the one they work for), schools have fired teachers for doing "inappropriate" things while not at work or not even on campus. Companies have fired people doing things that give a bad impression to their company--off the clock and not on the property and not illegal. I just don't see the difference, really.

I think its a good policy. We cannot sit around and say, on one hand, "texting is bad, someone needs to do something" and as soon as someone takes a stand, "oh, no! I don't want them to do that". Can't have it both ways.

 

[eliza61]

As much as I hate the whole texting while driving thing,if they are in their own vehicles on their own time,I don't think it's Disney's business what they do.

If they are on disney property while breaking the law it's disney's business.

 

[mickaholic4077]

If they are on disney property while breaking the law it's disney's business.

In Florida,there is no law prohibiting texting while driving.

 

[Metro West]

I thought the article said as long as CMs are on the clock, they couldn't text regardless if they are in their own cars...or did I misread it?

I just can not figure out why people text when they drive. I can't imagine anything is THAT important to risk your own life as well as others. It's really sad.

 

[disney_mommy]

I think it's sad that a company has to do this. Don't text while driving just strikes me as common sense.

 

[sorcerormickey]

It is only while the CM is on the clock, not on their own time.

 

[okeydokey]

As much as I hate the whole texting while driving thing,if they are in their own vehicles on their own time,I don't think it's Disney's business what they do.

If they are employed by a private company, they need to follow the company's rules while on duty. And it is not their own time, it's when they are working or getting to work on Disney property.

 

[mickaholic4077]

If they are employed by a private company, they need to follow the company's rules while on duty. And it is not their own time, it's when they are working or getting to work on Disney property.

As long as they haven't punched a time clock,they aren't working, so Big D shouldn't be spying on them.

 

[punkin]

In Florida,there is no law prohibiting texting while driving.

I would think that it should be common sense not to text while driving. I understand the use of cell phones (maybe) but texting? That's got to be recklessness of some kind even if there's no specific law.

 

[Tinkermommy]

I work for a large life sciences company.

About 8 months ago the instated a new policy of no texting while driving a company car, driving your own car while on company business/time or using a company device (blackberry).

So some other companies are putting it in place and in Georgia it is now illegal to do so.

 

[ols386]

As much as I hate the whole texting while driving thing,if they are in their own vehicles on their own time,I don't think it's Disney's business what they do.

It's only when they are on the clock, not during their personal time.

In Florida,there is no law prohibiting texting while driving.

It's not a Florida law, it's a Disney policy/rule.

As long as they haven't punched a time clock,they aren't working, so Big D shouldn't be spying on them.

Again, it's only while they are on the clock, not their own personal time.

My opinion is that employers/companies all have their own various polices and rules. If you can't abide by their policies, then don't work there. And this particular policy seems reasonable.

 

[MineMail]

I have to wonder if this rule came out of a Disney's legal department. In reading others' reports of their company's similar rules, it sounds like corporations are trying to head off lawsuits. The "Deep Pockets" rule applies and unscrupulous people would sue Disney if there's an accident with a phone-using CM on Disney property, regardless of whether the CM is working or not.

The report does say that this only applies to CM's who are on the clock. What vehicle they're using is irrelevant: if they're working and Disney says "no texting," that's the rule when they're on Disney property. It's always difficult to enact new rules with existing employees, but most Disney CM's are smart enough to realize why the rule was implemented and comply. If you're that desparate to text something, pull over!

With the explosion of web-enabled phones, more and more people are not technically texting; they're checking email, looking for a song on Pandora, using a GPS app, and so forth.

I saw someone cross the median line of a two-lane road doing 50, coming straight towards me - I pulled over into a driveway entrance to avoid him. He was driving a tractor-trailer and both hands were on his phone. If he hadn't been going so fast, I would have gotten his plate.

 

[Feralpeg]

When I was a Disney CM, we were told we could not use our cell phones at all while working. Unfortunately, I see it happen all the time. It is hard to control.

I agree with the previous poster who said that Disney is setting a policy to protect itself against possible lawsuits involving CMs using cell phones while on company time. The rule is already in place that they are not to use their phones, thus they should not be texting. Imagine a CM using a phone and not paying attention while running a ride. It could be terrible.