Australian company BHP Billiton's rule book has created a policy about the appearance of employees' desks.

According to the publication, employees "have to clean their desks every day of all but eight objects-their monitors, keyboards, mouse, mouse pad, telephone handset and headset, one A5 photo frame, should they need it, a footstool, gel wrist pad or other ergonomic equipment."

The company believes that a near empty desk area allows others to use that same desk when its owner is not around. A goal of the desk policy is to also keep information confidential and encourages people to put important documents away or file them digitally.

The policy also hopes to improve the company's cleanliness and improve employee productivity.

Although there has been no proof of employees becoming harder workers due to a tidier desk space, the company hopes that with the policy all of the extra distractions and clutter that occupy desks will be eliminated.