With so many advances in technology and with more and more work being done through emails, blackberries, and cell phones, questions are being raised about employees being paid for work done on their cell phones and via email after they are “off the clock.” Two lawsuits recently pose this question regarding hourly employees. As work and “free” time are merging together in many positions, employees are asking to be paid for work they do after they leave the workplace or after they are officially off the clock.
Recent After Hours Work Lawsuits
In July 2009, six employees of T-Mobile USA, Inc. alleged that they were required to use their company-issued cell phones to respond to work-related messages. None of the employees was paid for his time. The complaint against T-Mobile alleges that employees were issued T-Mobile smart devices and were required to respond to several work-related emails and text messages at all hours of the day and night without pay. Spokespeople for T-Mobile have not commented.
In a similar suit filed in March 2009, a maintenance worker for the company formerly known as CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. claims he is owed wages for time spent after hours responding to work messages on the cell phone the company issued him.
With the recession in full swing, are employers cutting corners by having the same amount of work done in the same time but by fewer people? Are employees nit-picking over minutes of work, maybe seconds, because they are struggling to pay bills? Some employees have even asked to be paid for the time spent taking off a uniform after a shift or for the time spent booting up a computer.
According to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), hourly employees must be paid for work that is performed off the clock, even if the work was done voluntarily. The FLSA was created in 1938, long before the age of computers, cell phones, blackberries, and texting. With the onslaught of these quick easy modes of communication, more and more employees are performing work-related tasks from their homes, cars, and even while on vacation. Many feel that just as the “workplace” has changed, so should the laws of paying for said work.
If you feel you deserve to be paid for work performed after hours, please contact an experienced wage and hour attorney in your area today.
