Employers in Australia are fed up with mobile phones in the workplace and say there is 'no excuse' to use them in the office.

Business owners are complaining the 10 minutes here and there throughout the day are adding up to hundreds of hours of lost productivity - and some are starting to take action.

It comes after Victoria moved to ban mobile phones in schools by 2020 as frustrated teachers and principals struggle to get students' attention in the classroom.

Business owners are complaining that the 10 minutes here and there throughout the day are adding up to hundreds of hours of lost productivity and many are starting to take action but implementing strong policies

Business owner and president of the Brisbane Junior Chamber of Commerce Nathan Schokker has said in the last 12 months there have been more businesses making formal policies against phone usage at work.

'I'd say 50 per cent are taking action, whether that's talking to their team or creating a policy and trying to be on the front foot,' he told the Courier Mail.

Although more businesses are putting in new policies, Mr Schokker said the their implementation can often vary.

'Most people try to take a 'softly softly' approach and raise it with their teams and say "let's cut down phone use", then it just progressively increases in severity so memos go around the business saying "we are going to start policing this", then they have no place to go but to create a policy so it's official and there is no excuse.'

Mr Schokker said the issue was previously a problem existing largely with the younger generation but it has now a habit that had spread further.

'People don’t realise how long they can spend on their phone on social media or playing a game or texting people,' he said.

Mr Schokker has implemented the ban at Talio, his property service and maintenance business, during certain periods not only for safety but for the accumulative time lost during the day.

Business owner Nathan Schokker said the issue was previously a problem existing largely with the younger generation but it has now a habit that had spread further

Work places have often banned mobile phone usage in high risk work environments such as factories, with supermarkets and fast food businesses traditionally sticking to a no phone policy.

In the UK there have been employers physically taking their devices from employees during work hours due to a lack of faith in their ability to use their phones sparingly.

Gerard O'Shaughnessy, who runs a firm in West Yorkshire, recently advertised a job that demanded no 'phone addicts'.

'We've had girls have complete meltdowns when they've come to work and been told they need to put their phone in a box.

'Others have said it's almost breaching their human rights, their right to be connected to their phone, it's almost like a separation anxiety.'