Workers In Brazil Can Claim Overtime For Answering Email After Hours

New submitter zzyvits writes "With smartphones becoming more and more common, the push for employees to work after hours is becoming greater. Would the push be as hard if the employers had to pay for it? A law recently passed in Brazil makes it possible for employees who answer emails after normal work hours to claim overtime pay."

Comments

Re:on the other hand

[Rockoon]

It's the peons who use the fuck out of their smartphones, as well as the company's bandwidth streaming music and video, and generally not working.

If this was a real problem then they would be fired after making those things verboten. The employer is paying a rate derived from the amount of work actually done in practice by the typical employee, not the theoretical maximum amount of work a typical employee could perform.

Employees that recognize that they do more work than is typical should ask for a raise and if they do not get it should then respond in a rational manner by either reducing output or looking for a new job.

Re:Spontaneous outbreak of common sense

[russotto]

Who is responsible for being so fair to workers? We'd never get that here (meaning US.)

It's already law in the US, for non-exempt employees. If you're required to respond to emails, the time you spend responding to them count as "hours worked".

29 C.F.R 785.12: "The rule is also applicable to work performed away from the premises or the job site, or even at home. If the employer knows or has reason to believe that the work is being performed, he must count the time as hours worked."