Checking Office Email on Your PDA? You Might be Owed Overtime Pay Under the Florida Overtime Wage Laws!

Posted by Rob on December 16, 2009 under Labor Law | Be the First to Comment

Let’s face it – the PDA the office gave you can be both a blessing and a curse! So can your office cell phone or Blackberry, for that matter. While it is great to be able to work from home and access your office information at any time, these devices are “electronic leashes̶

1; that can keep you plugged into the company 24/7. There are many employees out there who are still checking office email and returning phone calls from home long after the work day has ended. Because this type of technology is still fairly new, the laws are scrambling to keep up with the changes. The bottom line, though, is that your employer may owe you a Florida overtime wage if you check office email, text, or answer work-related phone calls after hours or off the clock.

About 86% of the American workforce falls under the category of non-exempt employees according to the U. S. Department of Labor. If you have been given a PDA and you check office emails and send and receive work-related text messages, doing so may extend your work week beyond the standard of forty hours a week. The 20-30 or so minutes per week you innocently spend on office email after hours can add up to a lot of overtime during the course of a year. And, that means you may be entitled to overtime under the FLSA and the Florida overtime wage laws.

If you have a question or need information about PDA use and the Florida overtime wage laws, contact Florida overtime attorney Joseph M. Maus at 1-866-556-5529, visit his website at www.mauslawfirm.com, or email him today. The Law Office of Joseph M. Maus and Associates has handled some of the largest Florida overtime wage claims. Attorneys in their office were recently appointed in Federal Court as lead counsel in an Overtime Class Action against a large Fortune 500 Company. Call their offices today for a free consultation or to obtain more information on Florida overtime wage claims.