Blackberries: A Lawsuit Waiting To Happen

Rumblings in the dark say employees working off-hours using their Blackberries may start suing their benefactors for overtime pay. Said benefactors should not in any way, shape or form feign surprise at this: obviously it was coming; it's now a question of when.

Lawyers across the land urge employers handing out Blackberries to rewrite contracts stating that non-exempt employees (read: paid hourly) cannot receive overtime if they're clicking messages away on the bus, in the car or during dinner hour as their neglected family sits in the wings, an expression of lost hope glazing their visages (I hate you, Dad).

Of course, any rewritten contract in and of itself is a reason to get huffy. CNBC cites a recent hubbub over at ABC News wherein employees were asked to sign these rewritten contracts and refused. Blackberries were confiscated. Union leaders went "Grumble grumble," the language was changed, and everybody got their crackpipes back.

Simple solution: oust non-exempt employees. Either make 'em exempt or take away their Blackberries for good. Hourly employees shouldn't be given even the slightest hint of the possibility of overtime pay unless your corporate coffer is hemorrhaging money you can't dispose of quickly enough.

[CNBC via Slashdot]