Are we entitled for overtime pay on using BlackBerry after work?

An intriguing question, and a very good editorial written by Al Sacco at PCW Business Center article. Which makes us to think about our addiction on using mobile phones in daily acitivities, even after work. In this particular case, the handset he's talking about is BlackBerry.

Do you expect to be paid for using the BlackBerry beyond the nine-to-five workhour? And Do you ever respond to messages/emails after you've left the office?

In short, the question was sparked by a recent fracas between ABC-TV, with a handful of its writers and producers and the Writer's Guild of America East (WGAE). According to CBN News; ABC staffers requested that they be compensated by the company for time spent on their BlackBerrys outside of normal working hours.

At first ABC denied the request, where shortly thereafter the disagreement was reportedly settled, with the return of the confiscated BlackBerrys and the agreement on the part of ABC to compensate its staffers who use their mobile devices "beyond routine." So, in effect, ABC said it will pay the BlackBerry users who employ their devices most frequently for work outside of traditional hours. And you can bet the company also created its own official corporate smartphone overtime compensation policy, to help avoid such confusion in the future.

After that, there could be a new wave of trend in companies to create an official BlackBerry overtime policy. Al Sacco even suspects that a number of attorneys suggest that organizations follow ABC's lead and draft BlackBerry-use policies before they're brought to court by disgruntled employees or workers claiming to be suffering from related health ailments like carpal tunnel syndrome.

So, let's head back to Al Sacco's fine main question again that has another piercing thoughts to think over in the future; especially for Crackberries & mobile users:

• If you're a corporate smartphone user, do you feel like you should be paid extra for the time you spend responding to messages, etc., during off hours?
• Or if you're a manager, smartphone admin or executive, do you think your staff should be compensated for their overtime BlackBerry use?

[blogged with my Treo 750v]