Do you think employees should get paid overtime for making business calls and emails when they’re not scheduled to work?

by Fox Report with Shepard Smith Posted 2013/02/07 17:08:18

Related Topics: Emails, Email, Employees, Overtime, Business

630 votes
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	YES- Any unscheduled work should be compensated	299 votes	47%
	MAYBE- It depends on how many emails and calls	215 votes	34%
	NO- It's part of being a good employee	116 votes	18%

Does scanning emails and answering calls from bosses on your smartphone after hours constitute work that should be compensated? A lawsuit winding its way through federal court in Chicago says that it does.

Chicago police Sgt. Jeffrey Allen claims in the suit that the city owes him and fellow officers overtime pay for work performed on department-requisitioned BlackBerry phones. If the plaintiffs eventually prevail, it could mean millions of dollars in back pay.

The issue impacts workers everywhere, Allen's lawyer said Wednesday after a hearing in the case. "Everybody can relate to this because people are being asked all the time these days to work for free and they are being told to work for free using their phones," attorney Paul Geiger said.

+29

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Cleaver62 2013/02/08 20:17:16

YES- Any unscheduled work should be compensated

+5
If you are working you should be paid. Companies have been taking advantage of employees for way to long. Wages are down, hiring is down. Let the company pay an employee for extra work or hire someone to do it.
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Jen 2013/03/06 14:36:30

NO- It's part of being a good employee

It makes up for the chunks of time when they were at work, but were surfing on Facebook or Twitter or Sodahead ... !

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Jrogers 2013/02/22 19:41:46 (edited)

MAYBE- It depends on how many emails and calls

It may be part of their job description - if so - then no

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rightside 2013/02/14 15:17:31

YES- Any unscheduled work should be compensated

If they do it voluntarily, then no. Just because it pops up on your phone or email, doesn't mean to have to respond.
If they are "on call" and their boss expects it of them, then yes.

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Transquesta 2013/02/14 07:40:23

YES- Any unscheduled work should be compensated

I wouldn't/haven't make/made an issue out of it, but a person deserves to be compensated for his/her effort.

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Marcus Clark 2013/02/14 07:35:50

MAYBE- It depends on how many emails and calls

It is not so much how many emails/calls, but rather if it is covered under their employment agreement, and whether it is by their choice or demanded of them by their employer.

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mae 2013/02/13 23:51:44

YES- Any unscheduled work should be compensated

If the courts say yes, so do I.

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harley oldman 2013/02/12 19:19:56

NO- It's part of being a good employee

No...Most are overpayed as it is. (Just sh*tting you) What kind of a dumbazz question is this? HELL YES, they should be paid.

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Gxoxo 2013/02/12 17:23:53

YES- Any unscheduled work should be compensated

my bf works for dcf aka government work :-(
he gets these random calls from bossess co workers etc even after he clocks out. he has tp do these papers write up notes youra after he clocked out. he should be paid for doing overtime. if it were me i would turn off my phone well after i clock out. yhen again im a bitch lol

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hippycat 2013/02/12 15:37:42

YES- Any unscheduled work should be compensated

absolutely. the employer pays you for a certain amount of your time. if you work even 10 minutes longer, he has to pay you for it. couldn't be easier - and this 'good employee' is nothing more than a useful idiot.

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lol fakename 2013/02/12 13:33:32

YES- Any unscheduled work should be compensated

Handling calls is iffy, but if your boss tells you to do it, it's work.

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olylift 2013/02/12 10:21:51

NO- It's part of being a good employee

Quit being a bunch of pussies.

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PatrioticSue 2013/02/12 06:32:31

MAYBE- It depends on how many emails and calls

It depends; it's a slippery-slope. I agree employees should be paid but I also can see how this could be abused by the employee. it depends on the job, the importance and quantity of calls and emails.

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Dan 2013/02/12 04:39:08

MAYBE- It depends on how many emails and calls

+1
And how many personal e-mails and calls/texts they make on company time. Every situation is different.

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whipnet 2013/02/12 04:02:13

YES- Any unscheduled work should be compensated

I've been in corporate IT for 20 years and doled it out to work gimps for decades. First it was pagers, then cell phones, then Blackberry's and now smart phones. 99.9% of the people who got their new toy we all so excited... "Look, I can get email on my phone"

The realization that you now cannot escape work doesn't set in for a while.

*

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us 2013/02/12 03:12:22

NO- It's part of being a good employee

If you are not scheduled to work why would you get paid, you decided to do work on your time, the company is not responsible.

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Manster 2013/02/11 16:32:02

MAYBE- It depends on how many emails and calls

It all depends on whether the work is authorized by the company. I had a coworker who would constantly log in to the system from home,and poke around,until his wife would yell at him to "TURN THAT DAMNED COMPUTER OFF!"

When I was in a position where I would have to resolve technical issues from home, I was given comp time for doing so.

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BVBaddict 2013/02/11 16:07:59

MAYBE- It depends on how many emails and calls

it also depends on the content of the conversation

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Dweezle 2013/02/11 12:24:11

MAYBE- It depends on how many emails and calls

Depends, I used to get after hour orders for work, example The company received an order on Sunday for a job on Monday, it was a minor call of less than 1 minute. but when a person receives many off duty calls they should be paid, but aren't police officers paid a salary?

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Ian 2013/02/11 08:15:20

MAYBE- It depends on how many emails and calls

+1
I've done my share of unscheduled work when needed, but my employer has also let me have time off to do important things like take my wife and children to the doctor when necessary, so fair's fair.

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Wulfdane 2013/02/11 01:11:27 (edited)

MAYBE- It depends on how many emails and calls

+2
If it is *requested by the employer* and the employee is being paid hourly, then yes. This ony applies to *actual work * being performed at home. For example, an officer working on a case at the request of his superior.

It is the employer's responsibility to have software installed on the phone that can monitor time spent on the phone talking and/or reading/sending emails to prevent abuse.

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wilsonmja 2013/02/10 23:05:16

YES- Any unscheduled work should be compensated

+2
Duh.

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Nathan Gallup 2013/02/10 18:45:13

YES- Any unscheduled work should be compensated

+2
Yes, but how do you accuratly and reliably track that

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VoiceOfReason 2013/02/10 18:05:57

NO- It's part of being a good employee

Calls and Emails are hardly work and I doubt they are being asked to do it by the employer. Most people do this on their own in order to keep up with the work load. If you are having to actively support or do other work while on off time then it should be compenstated some how. My employer allows us to have flexible hours to accomodate work after hours.

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calvin236 2013/02/10 16:28:44 (edited)

MAYBE- It depends on how many emails and calls

+1
It actually depends on if they are forced to do it or not, plus how many they do. If they are doing it voluntarily, they shoudn't have to be paid, while if they are forced to by their job, they need to be compensated for their work. I agree with the police case though, though not all careers apply.

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Ricky 2013/02/10 15:34:32

NO- It's part of being a good employee

+1
Answering calls and emails is not work. But I don't think they should HAVE to do it without pay.

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Dori 2013/02/10 14:26:24

NO- It's part of being a good employee

When issued a department-requisitioned phone as in this example, did you think crimes were commited between 8 and 5 or wonder why you were given a phone? Get another job.

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Playerazzi 2013/02/10 12:54:20

YES- Any unscheduled work should be compensated

No question about it. I bill by the hour. Every second I spend on phone calls and emails for work is billable.

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Sara Kira Wernberg-Tougaard 2013/02/10 09:14:14

YES- Any unscheduled work should be compensated

Yes if you need to check your email/ receive calls at home they should give you some extra for the trouble, but if you just as well could do it at work then it really isn't their problem

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Dayna_king 2013/02/10 04:46:39

MAYBE- It depends on how many emails and calls

If you make a one five minute call a week it's just not as feasible as say you make 20 to 25 five minute calls a day.

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RTS 2013/02/10 04:25:10

NO- It's part of being a good employee

No its communism.

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lol fak... to RTS 2013/02/12 13:31:28

Getting paid for labor is communism?

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RTS to lol fak... 2013/02/12 21:22:03

The worst kind of communism

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★earthbound_misfit★ 2013/02/10 04:24:53

YES- Any unscheduled work should be compensated

Work is work. If the employer is specifically requiring the employees to do this, then they should be compensated. Of course it would be different if the employee is choosing to do it on their own and is not required to answer the calls and emails.

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L1Z2 2013/02/10 03:49:29

YES- Any unscheduled work should be compensated

If it's work, even off the clock, it should be compensated....

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hatter 2013/02/10 03:37:56
senvestoj to hatter 2013/02/10 06:50:41

Wrong. The department clearly broke the law. You did bother to actually READ the article didn't you?
According to the suit, police brass pressured subordinates in the department's organized crime bureau to answer work-related calls and emails on their BlackBerrys, and then also dissuaded the officers from filing for overtime.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/201...

Granted the burden of proof is on the petitioners but if their accusation is true then the detectives deserve back pay.

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hatter to senvestoj 2013/02/10 16:35:14

+1
That's cool.

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kgiexec 2013/02/10 02:18:54

YES- Any unscheduled work should be compensated

The right answer wasnt a choice. If you are an hourly employee and the boss or your job initiates action that requires you to perform labor such as answering e-mails, phone calls, etc...the city will lose the suit. That is work and they are non-exempt employees. If you are exempt, then there is no case. If you don't like how much work they are giving you and at what hours, go find another job. Someone else will willingly fill your slot. If not then you have an employer who will be forced by the market to pay more or change their requirements.

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Rod 2013/02/09 23:48:56

NO- It's part of being a good employee

Not unless it is expected of them to make these calls and send these emails.

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Mom 2013/02/09 23:06:12

YES- Any unscheduled work should be compensated

What about teachers , who stay up all night, grading papers?

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