SUMMER 2015

36 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S

36 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK Jim Truesdell James Truesdell is President of Brauer Supply Company, a distributor of specialty fasteners, insulation, air filtration, and air conditioning with headquarters in St. Louis. Mr. Truesdell is adjunct professor at Saint Louis University and Webster University. An attorney and frequently published writer, he is the author of “Total Quality Management: Reports From the Front Lines”. STAYING CONNECTED 24/7 - THE NEW WORKPLACE REALITY Years ago, I knew a fellow who had a very responsible position at a major corporation. Our families were very close, even vacationing together from time to time. One thing I noticed about this guy was that he was always on call to his boss. Wherever we went he was careful to secure the telephone number of the hotel in which we stayed and left that number with his employer. Calls would come in for him and he would disappear for periods of time, much to the consternation of his wife who felt this was impinging on “family time” and that the boss acted like he “owned” her husband. The man reasoned that he was paid very well, had a responsible position, and that “on-call” status came with the territory. In today’s world it’s not just the people at the top who are expected to be available 24/7. We are all walking around with cell phones and are plugged into e-mail and we are expected (or we place expectations on ourselves) that we will promptly respond to the call of business, the customer, or the boss whether it be a weekend, our vacation or sick time. We reason that this round-the-clock accessibility will keep us in line for promotion, keeping our job, or preventing a customer from slipping away to a competitor. The increased leisure time and convenience we once thought technology would bring us has turned out to be a mirage. We may be free to work in any location, but the downside is that we are never truly “free” anywhere. Employers, because they can, do demand accessibility to employees at all times. Salaried managers often willingly choose to give that level of dedication. But what of the lower paid hourly worker? Just because their phone is not CONTRIBUTOR ARTICLE ringing, of if they check and find their voice mailbox or e mail message receptacle is empty, are they still “on-the-job” and entitled to compensation? The Fair Labor Standards Act is the federal law which governs when overtime must be paid. It covers employees whose work involves them in interstate commerce with and compels those employers to pay at least the federal minimum wage or the state minimums if higher. Various states have their own wage and hour laws which follow along closely with the federal guidelines or are, in some cases, more employee friendly. In theory, workers who are not exempt (as supervisory) are supposed to be paid time and one-half for all hours worked over forty in a given workweek. But do hourly workers feel pressure to stay connected after hours because salaried employees do so willingly? If companies send after hour e-mail communications only to managers and supervisors then are those key hourly people left out of the loop for successful project completion and career development? As technology expands new kinds of situations might fall into the area of overtime. What if the Company is encouraging workers to promote the company on social media? What if people are expected to check their e-mail before starting out for work in the morning, or before a first service call? What about healthcare professionals and other critical skill workers whose connectivity insures client/patients will be served or the employer will be shielded from legal liability for failure to monitor someone’s condition? CONTINUED ON PAGE 139