'LAWSUITS QUESTION AFTER-HOURS DEMANDS OF EMAIL AND CELLPHONES'

(Wall Street Journal) -- WSJ.com reports that "two recent lawsuits raise a question that many employees and employers have deliberated: Should hourly workers be paid for time spent responding to work calls or emails while off the clock?" According to the article, "The federal suits highlight the legal issues sparked by the proliferation of personal technology as well as the blurring of work and free time." The story notes that the federal Fair Labor Standards Act "says employees must be paid for work performed off the clock, even if the work was voluntary. ... When the law was passed in 1938, "work" was easy to define for hourly employees," said an employment lawyer, adding that "employers should adopt policies to regulate smart phone use outside the office," while "managers should contact employees sparingly, and make sure they are paid for responding." See the article at <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124986371466018299.html>.