Overtime Pay for Responding to Email after Hours?
Author: John Duckgeischel on January 19, 2012 - 9:42 PM
New legislation that
authorizes workers to request overtime for answering email outside of work
hours was signed into law last month by Dilma Rousseff, the President of
Brazil. The Star.com reports that the new legislation
categorizes emails to worker as being equal to giving orders to an employee,
and as a result employees should be allowed to ask for overtime pay. Meanwhile at Volkswagen, the company has
granted a union request to restrict email directed to employee smartphones outside
of work hours. In the case of Volkswagen, the catalyst for
change was union pressure, not government legislation.
It is possible that the Brazil’s
law could trigger similar legislation from other countries following its lead
in protecting worker’s right in the new world of high tech corporate communications. Some industry observers are speculating about
what might be considered as being “work” going forward. For example, if a worker was responding to
a company’s social media site or to blog comments after hours would that qualify
for overtime according to the new standards being set? Given the worldwide reccession , many workers
may still be reticent about asking for overtime, even with the support of
proactive legislation.
Related Link:
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/feeds/overtime-for-answering-email-out-of-hours-what-about-tweeting/4521
Add a Comment
