WALL STREET JOURNAL REPORTS INCREASE IN OVERTIME LAWSUITS
On Monday, August 10, Michael Sanserino wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal entitled: "Lawsuits question after-hour demands of email and cellphones". In it, Mr. Sanserino examines the T-Mobile case that I addressed on my July 20th blog entry. He also reports on a second case, out of California, where the appellate court recently reinstated a case involving an employee of Lincare who is claiming he is owed compensation for responding to customer's telephone inquiries while on call. The Lincare case is just another example of how technology has outpaced the law in this area. Ashby Jones also addressed the T-Mobile case for the Wall Street Journal Law Blog on August 10th. Although the courts have not yet reached a final decision on whether employees such as those working for T-Mobile and Lincare are entitled to overtime for working with their cellphones, blackberries, I-phones, personal computers, etc., employers must be prepared to address these issues now. I anticipate that it will be many more months, and maybe even years, before these questions are resolved by the courts. In the meantime, employers must make the decision to compensate non-exempt employees for time spent on after hour conduct beneficial to the employer, or face the risk of a lawsuit seeking overtime compensation.
