After-hours BlackBerry use a lawsuit in the making?

BlackBerry addicts maybe psychologically chained to their pocket email gadgets... but does that mean they shouldn't be paid for the time the spend working on them?

A growing chorus of warnings is erupting over the use of BlackBerry and similar smart phones, with legal experts saying that it's only a matter of time before employers find themselves sued for issuing the devices to hourly, non-exempt workers. Hourly workers who are issued the devices, says CNBC, may claim they are owed overtime when they are answering questions after regular work hours. "I'll bet anything that a lawsuit is going [to] happen," says one pro quoted in the story.

For the most part, workers who are issued smart phones are considered exempt employees, which means they are salaried and thus not eligible for overtime no matter how many times the boss emails them. But some non-exempt employees use the devices as well, such as tech support workers who are out in the field and need access to information from remote areas.

Posited solutions aren't entirely satisfactory: One attorney suggests non-exempt workers simply not be given the devices at all, or only be allowed to use them during work hours. But such policies may not just be bad for the company, they also have a way of falling out of use during emergencies or simple lax enforcement. All the employment handbooks in the world aren't likely to keep a suit from developing somewhere down the line.

If you manage a company where non-exempt employees use BlackBerrys and the like, legal experts say your best bet is to begin tracking the time they spend on the devices and compensating them for it, too. Expensive? Yes, but cheaper than defending against a class action lawsuit from disgruntled ex-workers.

LINK: Workplace BlackBerry Use May Spur Lawsuits