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Workplace BlackBerry Use May Spur Lawsuits
An anonymous reader writes "From an article on cnbc.com: 'As employers hand out electronic devices to their employees at a greater pace, there are growing concerns that workers eligible for overtime pay, known as non-exempt employees, could begin suing their employers for overtime hours earned while tapping on their devices during after-work hours. As a result, lawyers are advising their corporate clients to update their policies and handbooks related to BlackBerry use and reconsider who gets a device.'"
It clearly separates you from the sheeple and establish your dominance over the herd. It establishes that you're a go-getter, instead of one of those hippies with an iphone.
And everyone knows, blackberries make assholes more versatile.
In 2003-2004 at my previous employer the company rolled out Blackberries to management and "key" personnel. Being responsible for a relatively large part of the infrastructure at this joint, I also got one.
One day I arrived at work and found the messaging group folks had delivered the BBs to some of the people in my area, and there was a box in my desk as well, with a little booklet (the must have cost a fortune to print, it was that well done) with usage policy (of course), instructions and steps for setting it up. The younger kids were besides themselves and already setting up the sync cradles and sending messages to each other. I picked up the phone and called the project manager, who was a friend of mine. I asked him to send one of his people to pick the box up.
"But everyone's getting one."
"I don't care, I don't want it."
"You are on Tier 1 and you're supposed to be on call..."
"I am. I have a cell phone, and if the IPC melts down at 3 AM, someone can call me."
"But this lets you check your email!"
"That's exactly why I don't want it"
A few days of back and forth politik ensued, and eventually my boss relented and let me be. Note that this was the time when the devices could not make phone calls - I hear they can now. Oh joy.
I figured that once I had that thing I'd never be able to get away from it, even on vacation. And that's exactly what happened to everyone else. People won't think twice about sending you an email for stupid little things at 10:00 PM, because they're working and figure everyone else should be as well. But making a phone call is very different, and most people won't do it unless it's something really important. People think it's no big deal because it's just a message. Bullshit.
If the data center is on fire, sure I want to know, no matter what time it is. But I don't want to hear little pings and murmurs from a PDA next to my bed because some VP couldn't find a file for tomorrow's presentation, or a fscking file server is down and Julie in accounting can't get to it. All that can wait until the morning.
If I had taken the thing and ended up in that 24/7/365 situation I don't think I'd sue my employer, but I would have probably ended up leaving a lot sooner than I did. Probably even if I were eligible for overtime. A case of "they ain't paying me enough for this crap" if I ever saw one.
The twitter monologues. Click on my homepage and be amazed.
After I put my 8 or 10 hours in I get home and shut off the cellphone/pager/pda or any other gadget connected to work, I need some me time to eat & take a shower and put my feet up & relax, there is nothing that can not wait until tomorrow.
If they fire me I will tell the boss, "I was looking for a job when I found this one".
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
Blackberries are imho meant for those people who for whatever reason can't stop working. Business owners, sales people working on commission only, that idea. And of course that are exactly the people for whom working hours don't count. I'm one of them, even though I don't have nor want a blackberry. If people need to reach me so urgently they can use the phone.
This also makes me wonder, what is a blackberry doing in the hands of employees with fixed working hours? Why are they given one by the company in the first place? This are generally the lower ranked people (now I don't know US labour laws very much) - they have fixed working hours obviously, and are supposed to do (and finish) their work within those hours. I can't think of any reason why they would possibly need one such devices. They are at work, then work, and then will have a computer at hand. If it is the kind of employee that is supposed to run around all the time, e-mail won't be of much interest for them either.
No matter what I think this is mostly a story about the inappropriate use of a technology. The enormous urge of being "ahead of the pack" when it comes to adapting new tech. It is high tech, it is new, "everybody" uses it, etc. That kind of thinking. It sounds like a disconnect between the ideas of the top management and the actual tasks of the workers.
Add to that the idea that all employees want to be important, and having a blackberry these days is for sure equivalent to being important (until recently it were only the high-fliers that would have a need for it and could afford one), so everybody will happily accept a blackberry without thinking about whether they really need one. And then those lower ranked employees also get addicted, forget that they have working hours, start working overtime, and poof, lawsuit!
I truly hope the employees lose in this case, as I consider it unasked for overtime. Completely voluntary overtime. Unless the employers gave the blackberry with the message "now you are reachable at all times", in which case the employer deserves to lose - if only for sheer stupidity.
They've been issued for far longer than Blackberries and haven't spurned lawsuits so far.
Basically, it's not a question of the technology: if you have hourly employees working unreported time, you're asking for trouble. The labor laws are fairly clear in this matter. Whether it's on a Blackberry, laptop, or otherwise is beside the point.
But let's not forget that employers can simply reclassify their hourly employees as salaried and get as much unpaid overtime as they want. And that's perfectly legal, Blackberry or not. This question is more a matter of your employer's semantic classification of your job than whether or not you get paid for your overtime.
The society for a thought-free internet welcomes you.
... setting personal boundaries and expectations with your employer and co-workers? Just because you have a Blackberry does not make you an indentured servant.
On a side note, I had a previous employer offer me a Blackberry as an enticement to stay when I gave my notice to leave. Needless to say my decision remained the same.
I own a Blackberry (my own, I'm self employed and also an ISV of a Blackberry app) and the biggest complaint I have about them is many companies hand them out as status symbols and not to the people who could really make good use of them.
I Heart Sorting Networks
I've got a friend who have been given one. In my opinion it's both good and bad. The good side is that if you must send an E-mail, you can, and you don't have to stop your leisure and go home or go to workplace. The bad side is that more people expect you to reply quickly. But if you don't start replying quickly, few get such expectation. So my friend end up not attending to that new gadget when peaceful moments are more desired (which is most of the time).
At the end of the day, it's just a tool. They give it to you, it's their right. You might watch for message in it every second you're not sleeping, or you might just turn it off unless somebody makes you a phone call and you decide it is urgent enough, it's your choice. They can fire you, but they can always do so anyway.
You have to pay for people to work. What a novel concept.
I actually tell my employees specifically that - if they're not on call - they should not answer blackberries for work use when off.
:P
Now, I do think it provides some leeway - I have some employees who I allow somewhat flexible hours and for that they trade some amount of availiblity.
Others, I just like to irritate by sending emails a 4:30AM.
Oh, wait, my master is buzzing...
The Kai's Semi-Updated Website Thingy
While I agree with you in some respects -- in fact, a lot of folks are saying the current economic downturn is WORSE than normal because people are being expected to keep up with so much more in terms of insurance and other safety nets compared to previous recessions -- just because a subsection can't handle the control doesn't mean everyone should give it up.
I don't use a blackberry (because I'm still, admittedly, on my parents' plan and nobody involved wants to pay the extra per-line-per-month data charges), but my boyfriend does and he was connected to this thing right about when his carrier cut him out from under him. He's found ways to cope with a less feature-laden device, but still rough. Then again, when you're effectively the last line of defense in keeping a 24/7 radio station on the air, it's easy to see how he needs it.
In terms of other devices, though, I've been juggling at any given time:
- my laptop (obviously)
- a Nintendo DS
- a "smart" pedometer (technically a DS peripheral, but whatever)
- a Swatch smartwatch (which means it gets a little radio signal with things like important news bulletins, weather, and some vague stock reports. I could get MSN on it but I don't feel like paying for it)
- And my current "dumb" phone, which does calls, texting, and is my alarm clock.
Only one of these (the laptop) has any pertinent importance, and yet I notice the ones on my person the most (the pedometer and the watch) get my attention more often. There's something about a device that's attached to your body that makes you more attentive to it.
Combine this with the immediacy we already attach to phones, and a Blackberry becomes a risky combination. It's easy to see how such a thing can take over your life.
It's really not that hard to ignore them. I've had one for about a year (the 8830). I tune out the blinking red light when I'm not working, or if it is annoying me I turn the phone upside down so I cannot see it.
I find it very useful when I'm on site and I can keep up a bit more, whereas otherwise I'd be a day or two behind on emails.
I'm currently a IT professional that is actually paid overtime for > 40 hours of work per week. Guess what - I don't have a blackberry.
If I want to earn more money, the next pay grade is exempt and (shocking) includes a blackberry.
It's like looking at crackpipe and trying to talk yourself into it. :\
Hey man, my time off of work is my time. I mute my company issued cell phone's ringer. Then I call back when I'm awake which is when they are usually sleeping. :-) They have learned since to call someone else.
And since I spend NO time after work sending any work emails ... someone out there is spending an awful lot of time to make up for my slacking.
Yeah, I know that person. I work for them...
Maybe there's a generational gap here, but as a 20-something just entering the working world, I've found it striking how those 20-30 years older than myself have come to see email as the Infallible Silver Bullet of instant office communication. Email isn't always reliable, or instant, or even secure, yet it's increasingly treated that way.
For example, I receive one-liner emails from someone sitting at a computer in an office less than 30 feet from mine. Just walk over and ask your question, you know where I am. Well, okay, so I'm not always at the computer- in which case I'll get a followup email (or two) within 10 minutes asking why I haven't replied to the first message. We have numerous people who use email as an instant message service, shooting single sentence messages back and forth all day long. Our workstations even come with an IM client installed, and I've tried to instruct people to use it, but nobody does. They'd rather make a show out of spending at least an hour or two every day "doing email", as it's called around the office.
I'm convinced that the use of Blackberries will only make the problem worse. Email is quickly becomming the text messaging of the workplace, something it was never designed nor intended for. God help me if the boss ever gets a Blackberry, and figures out how to use it...
Grow some balls and be responsible for your self and your own work. It is just a tool - no one is standing over you with a gun to use it - and if they are you have a much bigger problem than a crappy PDA.
As an employer I would expect my employees to do their job. If a tool like a blackberry is useful to someone, more power to them, if they don't want it, I couldn't care less. Does not get you off the hook for doing your job though. Now, your job either includes off-hour support or it does not. No PDA will change your contract. If it includes it, stop whining and do your job or quit. If it does not, stop whining and just turn the fucking thing off or at least ignore it. That's what I do as an employee.
People are just whining because they have no guts to stand up for themselves and have no self control. The PDA is the least of their problems. If you can't take responsibility for yourself, I have no sympathy for you.
-Em
RelevantElephants: A Somatic WebComic...
If something is down, you've got 140 characters or so to tell me about it. If it takes more than that, it's either not serious enough to make me care about, or it's serious enough for you to call me about.
Either way I'm fine with my LG 10000 Voyager, and personal laptop to remote in when travelling if needed beyond that.
They day I have a blackberry is they day I've sold my soul (and/or am making more ... heh).
Hire a Linux system administrator, systems engineer,
If it is really important thay will send the police.
Undetectable Steganography? Yep, there's an app fo
The problem is not the device - there's a lot of chatter in this thread about the pros and cons of such portable devices, but the core issue is employers who have no regard for employees' personal time and who routinely break wage and hour laws.
Improper handling of "exempt" employee status is probably the most frequently screwed up HR liability in the corporate world because half of managers "heard somewhere" at one point that if you're on salary you're exempt. Wrong. The same people fabricated "flex time" which has no basis in law in the state of California (maybe in other places).
The level of ignorance in upper management with regard to employees rights is mind-numbing.
I have been telling my clients this for years. Wisconsin law clearly says that if a manager knowingly allows an hourly employee to do work at home then they must be compensated for their time. So, all my designs include the ability to and documentation on how to disable mobile access, remote email access, etc. for hourly and other non-exempt employees. If the employee saves all their email they can export all the email sent by them after hours, compile the data, and then prove a pattern of working in the evenings. If they were a 30 - hour employee they can sue for the remaining hours and benefits. This is a lot of risk for employers.
Then DON'T be!!
You don't have to be...I've worked W2, and was hourly, and got OT pay. You can too..just ask for it, or go work where they will let you.
Personally...I'll never work for free ever again. Salaried pay is a rip-off. I don't mind wokring OT, going above and beyond when it is needed, but, I will not do it for free. If you get paid hourly...they will think twice about asking to you to work OT; only when they really need it. Over 40 hours a week should not be 'expected', it should only be required for emergencies and last minute pushes on big deadlines.
Go contracting. I prefer C2C 1099, but, have done W2, but, I negotiate to be hourly with paid OT. Sometimes all you can get out of them is straight time for OT, but, that's still better than free.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
I remember reading an etiquette guide where the rule of thumb was 'proximity'.
So if you are talking to someone face to face and you get a phone call/pager/email/IM, then you ignore those and focus on the face to face conversation because that person is closer.
Or if you are on phone call, and you get a pager/email/IM, then the caller is 'closer' to you (since you are engaged in a real-time voice conversation) and you would ignore the others including the IM (which is real-time, but less 'close' since it's not voice).
Basically it comes down to common sense and respect for the other person. Ever since I read that, I've been following that rule of thumb to the point where people I'm having conversations with are shocked when I let a phone call go to voicemail rather than interrupt my chat with them.
Mind you, the shocked look is often replaced with one of admiration that I consider them important/interesting enough that I am giving them my undivided attention. To me, that's proof that the rule of thumb is worth following.
That's what I like about Alberta labour law. OT is not set by salaried or hourly, but by managerial status (with a few execptions). If you are not a manager, and are salaried, they have to pay overtime.
Now, if that makes sense to anyone, could you please explain it to me? I think I've confused myself.
Too many in the US have this "gimmie something" attitude, not the attitude of "how I can be a better worker", or "how I can enhance my value to the company".
You must have to have a pretty empty life for those things to be the most important issues in it.
Dealing with lawyers would be a lot less tedious if they all looked like Casey Novak.
Personally...I'll never work for free ever again. Salaried pay is a rip-off.
That depends entirely on the salary. In many cases you are quite correct but not always. Once you climb up towards management, hourly pay generally is no longer an option. Plus in some professions (ex. doctors or investment bankers) hourly pay is simply not going to be an option on the table. Fortunately the pay and bonuses (should) make up for it so long as you don't mind the hours. Whether the hours vs. pay trade-off is worth it is an exercise left for the reader.
I'm with you on this. I left the company I used to work for partly because they abused the 40-hour, exempt-employee workweek. Sometimes, we would spend 14-16 hours on-site without breaks, and I simply got sick of working hours of 2 weeks and getting paid for one.
Then I came back as a part-time W2 employee, only to be met with "Well, we have this approval process for overtime."
Fine by me.
The whole "exempt" employee thing is a sham -- I'm not sure how companies can legally declare non-managerial employees (such as myself) as EXEMPT; To me, it stinks of some loophole that is screaming to be closed.
Over 40 hours a week should not be 'expected', it should only be required for emergencies and last minute pushes on big deadlines
Please understand that emergencies and last minute pushes on big deadlines are to be expected at all times. No overtime means no overtime. If you want to do a good job at leading a team, make it a rule without exceptions.
As an employer, don't pay for overtime, don't ask for overtime and don't allow overtime. It will ruin quality and cost you more.
I used to work at one of the big consulting firms and the following pattern was almost a rule:
1. not finished, stay late
2. come in late or unrested
3. be less productive, deliver poor quality
4. not finished after staying late
If you see that pattern, stop it at once and follow these simple rules:
1. everybody is on time each day
2. no working after 6
3. max 40 hours a week
Show a man some news, distract him for an hour. Show a man some mod points, distract him for the rest of his life.
If you make that argument, you have already lost. It means you have given your boss the authority to rearrange your life for greater productivity; you're just giving advice on the best way to do it. To establish boundaries, you should let them make the first move. Just don't respond to emails or calls outside of working hours. If they want you to be available for work during certain hours, they need to negotiate those hours and convince you -- preferably with arguments you can take to the bank.
Heh, where I work, there are typically long stretches (as in quarters to years) where everyone is expected to work 50 hour weeks. If you can get everything related to the stuff that is explicitly your job done, well you just earned another hat to wear (there's always SOMETHING that needs done).
The main reason most of the guys here (from manual labor to production to shipping to sales to etc) put up with it is the owner of the business. It's pretty clear that he does everything in his power to take care of his employees. Our pay isn't incredible (though 10% raises if the company is doing well when evaluations hit is common, plus we have a profit sharing program that has handed out up to $2k (average is around $750) bonuses on the quarter, plus a fuel allowance, plus a christmas bonus of around $500), and our health insurance sucks (although he has outright shown several of us where it fits in our expenses, and he really, honestly couldn't do better), but otherwise it's not bad. Unfortunately, I think when he finally retires there's going to be a mass exodus of employees, since I know several of them are working here *because* of who the owner is, and several more explicitly dislike (to put it mildly) who things would be passed down to (family owned business).
From the article, "Although experts said that they are not aware of any current lawsuits, they said it's inevitable."
The lawyers are stirring the pot. Nothing else to see, move along. These are not the lawsuits you are looking for.
One ring to bind them - should probably have more fiber and less rings in their diet.
Sanity is like a condom: rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.
I'll be the first to tell you that I hate my cell phone. When I got to undergrad, everyone was getting one. We knew it would be a part of life. I resisted until my 4th year and still made sure that it was a bare-bones phone-- a brick by modern standards. No internet, no special ringtones, nothing that would potentially add additional cost to my life.
When I entered the work force after graduation, everyone wanted to give their cell numbers to their various supervisors. I didn't. When asked by my supervisor why I didn't, I told him:
1) You don't pay for my minutes
2) You don't pay me for taking calls and doing work before 8am nor after 5pm
3) I don't like phones, let alone cell phones.
He and I had a very humorous conversation until I asked him why *he* gave his cell number to *his* supervisor. "It just streamlines everything. It's less work," he responded.
"Less work" I retort. "Tell me, without a cell phone, how much work would you do in the car on the way to and from work? How much work would you do at lunch? How much work would you do traveling from point-A and point-B on the job?"
"I wouldn't get any work done. That's the problem," he insisted.
"No, you're missing something... you said cell phones help you do less work. However, you do work in all that time where, prior to cell phones, you did no work. The drive to work was relaxing. On the drive home, you could think about home, not the office. You could relax at lunch. You're commuting from one meeting to another during the day so you're already working for the company/school -- so how are you doing less work when you're working when you shouldn't?"
He paused, opened his mouth, closed it again, and breathed.
I start again, "... and do you pay for your phone and minutes? Or does the company/school?"
"Well it's my phone. I pay for it," he says.
"And who uses it more: you for your life or the company/school through you as its employee?"
He smiles as if empowered. "You're right. If I'm working off the clock, the very least the company/school could do is pay for this phone or another and the minutes."
"Now you're talking. Of course, you could even record the minutes you work in your off time and claim them as time put in. Remember, the company/school only works in 15-minute increments so, round up where necessary," I say with a grin.
Afterward: A month later, the company/school ended its policy of requesting (requiring) employees give up their cell numbers. If they needed you to be on call, they'd buy you a cell phone and subscription. The people didn't get paid for their time on the phone, but it was a start.
After-Afterward: I still don't give my cell number out to anyone but Human Resources. Those guys are rabid bulldogs about privacy and will only call me in an emergency or if there's something wrong with my paycheck.
Curious about this, can anyone actually define what 40 hours a week is? There is ambiguity even within the term "40 hour work week."
I would love it if there were a consensus on the salaried 40 hour a week among workers. Is it a seven hour work day with a one hour lunch break, times five? Is it an 8 hour day with one hour lunch break added on that is presumably "personal time", which then makes people skip lunch? What about bathroom breaks?
All of these little nitpicky details add up to a lot and usually end up working out in the favor of the company, against the workers best interests. I would be interested to hear other thoughts.