Just before going to bed, you thumb through the inbox on your BlackBerry to check updates from work. You send out a few directives before turning in.
Some would say you're getting a jump on the next day's work. Others say it's billable hours.
Can you claim overtime for using your BlackBerry?
More employers have faced that question in the past year --- in court. Workers in California and Ohio have sued their employers to recoup time spent on their BlackBerry and other workplace tools such as laptops.
While Georgia courts have not decided such cases yet, there are new ones cropping up nationally each month in the wage-hour realm, said Clare Draper, partner in Alston & Bird's labor and employment group.
Most of the people being issued BlackBerries tend to be managers, professionals or executives, Draper said.
"They get paid the same amount no matter how much they work," he said. But it becomes a problem when companies issue remote technology such as BlackBerries to hourly or nonexempt workers who are eligible for overtime, Draper said.
So what can companies do to protect themselves?
"It would be wise for an employer to have a policy dealing with [nonexempt or hourly workers] reporting the times worked on cell phones, BlackBerries, pagers or laptops," Draper said. His firm is helping clients in Georgia craft such policies.
BlackBerry usage can become a legal problem for companies if workers are misclassified, Draper said.
Say you're classified as a manager, but you later claim that the work you do is really hourly work and, therefore, you should be receiving overtime pay. The time on a BlackBerry, laptop or cell phone could become a legal issue, he said.
Draper advises companies to "regularly check and update job classifications to make sure workers are properly classified."

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