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Are you allowed to listen to music at work (with headphones)?

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Re: Are you allowed to listen to music at work (with headphones)?

#33
> Are you allowed to listen to music at work (with headphones)?

Really up to the work place I guess. All my work place so far let me listen to music with headphones...

I'd start looking for another job unless you don't have any good resume experiences and having a hard time getting a position. Then you would probably want to stick it out for a year and get friendly with that 1 other worker for a reference.

Re: Are you allowed to listen to music at work (with headphones)?

#34
post #8

That sounds like a bad place to work. In better workplaces, and in terms of headphones policy, wearing them should be allowed, but it should be seen as a temporary do not disturb sign, and one shouldn't wear them all the time. Being in a shared office implies communication between the other people and wearing headphones all the time may interrupt with that. In practice, what I've seen is that in the mornings with the…

I don't agree at all.

In an open space office headphones = working. No headphones - temporary you may disturb me now sign. Anything requiring more than 2 people briefly talking -> find an office.

And that's why open offices are horrible for devs - you work on your own 75%+ of the time and you get to choose between slowly damaging your hearing or being distracted and not getting any work done.

Re: Are you allowed to listen to music at work (with headphones)?

#36

Tip of the iceberg. Leave ASAP. My coworker (a salaried employee) was working on the weekend as a courtesy to my boss (small business). She saw him wearing headphones and told him to take them off immediately and that they weren't allowed. He never came in on the weekend again. Rules like 'no headphones' are the signal that the boss is suffering from pathological behavior. This is a very unhealthy environment for the…

+1 I never got my head around to understanding why its hard to understand that each has his own hacks to being productive. Listening to music is just one of the things that just works for me. Moving away from my workstation is another that works great for me when i am stuck with some problem.

But sometimes people frown, its their problem not ours.

Re: Are you allowed to listen to music at work (with headphones)?

#37

If you are in Europe, your company may forbid listening to music in house rules, to avoid paying a media tax.

That's insane. I live in Europe and I've never heard of such a rule/law (nor any company forbidding music).

Even friends in 'stiff' industries, like banking or law, can listen to music at work.

Re: Are you allowed to listen to music at work (with headphones)?

#39
>I got yelled at couple of times because there were some bugs.

I'm having trouble finding words strong enough to convey how absolutely unacceptable that is. I would start interviewing at other companies immediately. When asked why, cite this. If you can afford being unemployed (check unemployment eligibility), I'd walk out of the office immediately the next time your boss yells at you.

"Don't make mistakes" is a completely unreasonable demand. If you want fewer mistakes, implement better processes and teach people better techniques.

Re: Are you allowed to listen to music at work (with headphones)?

#40
post #29

Is your boss over 45? It could just be a generational thing. For context, in my younger days, I worked in offices where no one ever (literally NEVER) took a personal phone call unless it was an emergency (this is before mobile phones and texting). And it still looks strange to me when I see people working at an office with headphones. (Even though I prefer to work with music).

He's definitely above 40 but not sure if he's close to 45. Besides, he used to be a Network guy for long time before starting this office.

I'm in that generation... And I've worn headphones in the office most days for the last 20 years.
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