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After-Hours Use of Electronic Devices: Avoiding and Defending Overtime Pay Claims

Defining Working Time, Leveraging Defense Tactics, Defeating Class Certification, Proactively Avoiding Claims

A live 90-minute CLE video webinar with interactive Q&A

This program is included with the Strafford CLE Pass. Click for more information.
This program is included with the Strafford All-Access Pass. Click for more information.

Tuesday, February 25, 2025

1:00pm-2:30pm EST, 10:00am-11:30am PST

or call 1-800-926-7926

This CLE course will guide employment counsel on practical measures to protect against overtime pay claims resulting from employees' increased use of electronic devices to perform work-related tasks after hours. The panel will examine the most recent developments regarding the after-hours use of electronic devices, review situations involving electronic devices and "working time," and provide approaches for defeating claims.

Description

The explosion of smartphone and tablet use has eased the way for employees to have continuous remote connectivity to the workplace, presenting yet another liability threat for employers already battling an increase in overtime pay claims.

If an employee can show the employer had actual or constructive knowledge of work performed, an employer can owe overtime pay for work never requested from a worker.

Employees who prevail in overtime pay claims may be entitled to substantial damages, including back wages plus interest, liquidated damages, and attorneys' fees and costs from the employer. These damages can grow exponentially in the face of a collective action.

Listen as our authoritative panel provides employment counsel with practical guidance for avoiding and defending overtime pay claims springing from work performed outside the workplace and after work hours via electronic devices. The panel will assess current case law as it applies to the unique claim of electronic overtime pay and provide techniques for defending against individual and collective actions and avoiding claims.

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Outline

  1. Latest developments regarding employee connectivity via electronic devices and overtime pay claims
  2. Compensability of off-duty work
    1. Definition of work
    2. De minimis doctrine
      1. Portal-to-Portal Act
      2. On-call time
  3. Employer defense
    1. Individual claims
    2. Collective action claims
  4. Best practices to avoid overtime pay claims

Benefits

The panel will review these and other principal issues:

  • How does continuous connectivity of employees impact the definition of working time and compensable time?
  • What are the defenses to electronic overtime pay claims?
  • What are best practices to avoid claims of electronic overtime pay?
  • What tactics work to defeat certification in collective actions when employees claim a group of employees is entitled to electronic overtime pay?

Faculty

Desmond, Susan
Susan Fahey Desmond

Member
McGlinchey

For more than 35 years, Ms. Desmond has helped clients minimize the cost and disruption of employment disputes. She...  |  Read More

Fox, Stephen
Stephen E. Fox

Partner
Sheppard Mullin

Mr. Fox has spent more than 25 years in boardrooms and courtrooms acting as a trusted advisor and litigation advocate...  |  Read More

Attend on February 25

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You may pre-order a recording to listen at your convenience. Recordings are available 48 hours after the webinar. Strafford will process CLE credit for one person on each recording. All formats include course handouts.

To find out which recorded format will provide the best CLE option, select your state:

CLE On-Demand Video