Alex Can your employer require you to answer your cell phone on?
Because no law requires employers to give paid vacation time, your employer can structure the paid time-off they offer however they like: They can say that you can take the time as long you answer your cell phone, or as long as you check email once a day, or as long as you perform an interpretative dance report on your vacation when you return.
Do you have to have a cell phone to work after hours?
Since you are expected to be available after hours, don’t (presumably) have a company-issued phone, and they want you to put your cell phone number on your business cards and provide it to clients, it’s pretty easy to see that they must reimburse you.
Do you have to answer work related calls?
Sure, you don’t have to answer work-related calls, but your clients and supervisors know you have your phone and they know you can see their number come up, so … Ugh. It’s time to set boundaries. If your supervisors are rational people, they’ll understand. If they are not, this will not be the only issue.
Do you have to answer your cell phone on vacation?
They say because they pay the phone bill, we have to answer the calls no matter what. I thought the purpose of a vacation is that you unplug from work. This is one of those issues where the question of what’s legal is different from the question of what’s smart.
When do you have to be paid for on call work?
For example, if you are contacted while on call and spend half an hour on the phone helping a client with a computer problem, you must be paid for that time. If you have to work on-call time for which you aren’t being paid, talk to an experienced employment lawyer.
Because no law requires employers to give paid vacation time, your employer can structure the paid time-off they offer however they like: They can say that you can take the time as long you answer your cell phone, or as long as you check email once a day, or as long as you perform an interpretative dance report on your vacation when you return.
Do you have to carry a cell phone when on call?
An employee who is required to carry a cell phone, or a beeper, or who is allowed to leave a message where he or she can be reached is not working (in most cases) while on-call. Additional constraints on the employee’s freedom could require this time to be compensated.
Do you get paid for waiting by the phone for work?
Your employer might be required to pay you for time you spend waiting by the phone for work. Once you arrive at your job site and begin working, you are entitled to be paid for your time. But what about time you spend “on call,” waiting to see if there’s work for you to perform?