It can be hard for employees to disconnect after work hours are over. They might feel the need to check their work email to see if they got an important response. In an effort to reduce work-related stress, other countries are making companies specify hours when employees can and cannot send or receive email.

In 2015, the United States Department of Labor issued its 2015 Spring regulatory agenda. It advised the public that the DOL intended to publish a request for information in August of that year to determine whether the creation of a new rule on employee use of portable electronic devices was necessary.

With nothing happening last summer surrounding this subject, the DOL re-issued the same announcement in its 2016 Spring regulatory agenda. Basically, the department wants to gather information about employees’ use of electronic devices to perform work outside of regularly scheduled work hours and away from the workplace. The DOL also wants to look at last minute scheduling practices by employers that correspond with employees using such devices.

Employers should keep an eye on how this request for information plays out in July 2016. If it does prompt a new rule or regulation, employers should expect guidance on:

• What will be considered compensable time when employees engage in activity using portable devices.
• How “de minimus” time will be defined in the context of the performance of work that does not need to be compensated.
• New recordkeeping obligations since traditional time sheets or punch cards might not work for after-hours, offsite activities
• Whether employers should or must have email curfews and regulations on what circumstances employers can require after-hours, offsite work.

What they find could have a significant impact on how employers are currently handling employee usage of portable devices away from the workplace. For more information, ask InnovaCounsel how this might affect current employment rules and regulations.