Could Smartphone Use Outside of Workplace Lead to Lawsuits?
Some lawyers are warning their business clients to get employees to sign waivers denying themselves the right to compensation for work completed while using their BlackBerrys or other smartphones. The concern for lawsuits is getting to the point where some employers are being advised to avoid giving them out at all.
Of course, this only applies for non-exempt employees who are eligible for overtime pay. Since cranking out emails on a BlackBerry, or even from home, could easily qualify as on-the-clock labor, lawsuits appear inevitable. Fortunately enough for employers, none of these lawsuits have been filed yet.
Believe me, I have a friend whose BlackBerry chirps and vibrates more than a chinchilla on speed. If she added up those hours spent each couple of weeks, she’d have enough money to retire in Del Boca Vista.
The obvious solution seems to be to make such employees salaried workers and to avoid giving BlackBerrys to the non-exempt workers. But so far, employers are getting away with tons of free labor. Why stop it now?
In the CNBC article that is the source for my post, a survey by Cohesive Knowledge Solutions is quoted that states the average professional spends 50 minutes a day of off-work time emailing, quite a bit of it done through BlackBerrys and iPhones.
In spite of the lack of lawsuits, there was already a spat between ABC and the Writer’s Guild of America East about after-hours BlackBerry use and emailing. The Guild instructed the writers not to sign a waiver denying themselves off-hours compensation, and when the writers complied, ABC took away their BlackBerrys. After negotiations and a difficult stint in BlackBerry rehab, the employees and ABC agreed that some work would be compensated for. Obviously, since their occupation is writing, any material produced off-hours is directly relevant to their job and probably should be compensated.
It is apparent that if there are lawyers moving to protect against smartphone lawsuits, you know there are some on the other side with itchy trigger fingers, waiting for the right plaintiff and the right target.
Thanks to Joseph Pisani at CNBC.com.
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