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Monday August 10, 2009
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Is technology helping your boss take advantage of you? Three T-Mobile employees say yes.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the cell phone carrier was sued last month by workers who claim they their bosses contacted them after hours via company-issued smartphones to handle work-related issues without pay. Those who complained were told the extra work was part of "standard business practices."
A similar suit was filed in March by a former CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. maintenance worker, the Journal said.
With smartphones, "the boundaries become much more permeable" and work is difficult to monitor, Christina Banks, a senior lecturer at the University of California Berkeley and president of Lamorinda Consulting LLC, told the paper.
Should companies reimburse workers for any and all off-the-clock work, or is that just part of the deal in a more connected society?
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August 10, 2009 10:30 PM
I really want to address this, but I'm manager on call this week. :/
But I will say this - as with any workplace, you have to work to find one that will respect the line between your work and your life and the balance you draw between them, and there will always be workplaces that reject that balance, feel comfortable intruding on your personal life at any time, or will simply exploit technology to get access to their most valuable resource (human capital) at any time.
August 11, 2009 9:31 AM
In this day and time if you are lucky enough to have a job I think you should make certain exceptions to the rule and personal time and work time. Remember there are several people out there looking for work that would be glad to step in and do your job without drawing a hard and fast line between personal and work time.
Having said this, I also think that something could be worked out with an employer to rotate the on call with other people in the office. That way everyone shares in taking calls during personal time. I also think that employers should respect when an employee says, this certain day I can not take calls for any reason. There are times that family should come first and times that the job should come first.