Do you consider yourself to be "working" when you check your e-mail after dinner and find yourself still addressing work issues two hours later? What about when you let yourself answer that emergency call from a coworker or a client on an off day? The line between work and play is growing increasingly muddy thanks to technology, and new lawsuits are popping up to push back on employers to shell out for the free labor.

The Wall Street Journal today noted a lawsuit that was filed last month in the Eastern District of New York against T-Mobile, alleging that the wireless carrier required employees to be on call and respond to customer issues outside of work hours, but without paying overtime. The employees in question—former and current retail associates and supervisors—were required to carry company-issued smartphones and "were required to review and respond to numerous T-Mobile-related e-mails and text messages at all hours of the day and night, whether or not they were logged into T-Mobile's computer-based timekeeping system," according to the law firm representing the plaintiffs.

Additionally, these employees were expected to participate in T-Mobile conference calls after work and during lunch, times when they were officially off the clock. When pressed, managers allegedly told the employees that they should expect to put in the extra hours as part of "standard business practices."

According to the complaint, these employees were all "non-exempt," meaning that not paying them overtime for their outside-of-work labors could fall afoul of numerous wage and labor laws.

A similar lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District of Wisconsin on behalf of a real estate maintenance worker who wasn't paid overtime for the time he spent responding to issues via his cell phone after hours. In both cases, the companies insist that they are compliant with all wage and hour laws—bringing into question whether taking calls and e-mails outside of work technically counts as "work."

A study conducted in 2007 showed that Americans were split on whether devices like the BlackBerry chain you to work. Regardless of how they felt, however, those who owned a BlackBerry were in fact working longer hours than those who didn't, lending support to the notion that being hyperconnected in today's working world translates to more hours.

The pay situation is significantly less clear-cut for exempt employees (those who are on a fixed salary rather than an hourly wage). Taking the occasional call or e-mail is no big deal for most, but some exempt employees feel that they shouldn't have to work another 40 hours outside the office without some extra incentive. Ars Project Manager Clint Ecker used to work for T-Mobile as an RF Engineer—an exempt position—and was required to be on call practically 24 hours a day, every day, including weekends. However, he's of the view that unless someone is misled into believing that this sort of thing wouldn't happen when being hired, it just comes with the territory.

There is also a group of people simply addicted to work. Those of us who work in the news industry (that includes most of the staff here at Ars, as well as many other publications) are constantly feeling a little jittery about things that might be happening at any and all moments we are not in front of the computer, leading us to become compulsive e-mail and RSS checkers even during otherwise taboo times—during dinner, in bed, at a play. Smartphones and constant Internet access mean that work and play are no longer separate—it's work and work, with some play mixed in (and occasionally sleep—but if you're me, you're still checking your e-mail in the dark via iPhone at 3:00am every day).

Some argue that the Fair Labor Standards Act requires employees to be paid for the extra time they put in, even if it's completely voluntary. However, employment attorney Dan McCoy told the WSJ that employers simply need to define more clear-cut policies on out-of-office communications. "There is a practical approach to this," he said.

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