The Fair Labor Standards Act in the Virtual Office: How Employers Can Ensure They Have Fully Compensated Their Non-Exempt Employees in the Age of the Blackberry
Corporate Counsel, Vol. XXVII, p. 2, 2008
17 Pages Posted: 22 Aug 2012
Date Written: 2008
Abstract
Workplace technology has blurred the lines between time working and time at rest. Employees can use personal digital assistants such as BlackBerries and cellular phones to conduct business even when they are not at the office. Employers, however, are still required under the Fair Labor Standards Act to compensate non-exempt employees for all time spent working even if it is difficult to calculate. This Article presents the inherent legal problems such as whether after-hours BlackBerry use falls under the FLSA requirements, which exceptions to the FLSA can be used by employers, and what practical solutions employers can use to ensure that they are not legally liable for their employees’ after-hours BlackBerry use.
Keywords: FLSA, cellular phones, non-exempt employees
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