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Handyman, Chicago Officer Sues Over After-Hours PDA Use

Saturday, Oct. 2nd 2010 6:47 AM

A police officer has sued the City of Chicago (on behalf of himself and others) seeking pay for time spent dealing with work-related phone calls, voice-mails, e-mails, text messages, and work orders via BlackBerry® devices and similar “personal digital assistants”.  The officer contends that these activities entitle the group to an award of overtime compensation under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

The potential for these claims has been lurking for a while now, and the relevant FLSA principles are not new.  What has changed is this:  The explosion of 24/7 electronic communication has increased the frequency with which, and has expanded the circumstances in which, non-exempt employees perform after-hours and/or off-premises work.  Join this with the strict requirements of a 70-year-old law that was designed in and for a bygone era, and you have the recipe for a lawsuit extravaganza.

The question is not whether these activities are compensable FLSA “hours worked” for a non-exempt employee – they are.  However, conventional wisdom leads some to think that things like writing a text message or listening to a voice-mail involve too little time to worry with.  But the truth is that this so-called “de minimis” concept is perilously vague, ill-defined, and unpredictable under the FLSA.  No particular timeframe is necessarily small enough to be reliably considered de minimis, and in any event the per-occurrence amount of time is not all that the courts take into account.  Other considerations can include such things as:

•   The aggregate amount of an individual’s time spent in these activities;

•   The aggregate amount of time spent by all of the individuals making claims;

•   The regularity of the activities;

•   Whether and to what extent capturing the time creates a substantial administrative burden and practical difficulty; and/or

•   Properly balancing FLSA policy favoring paying employees for even small amounts of time against the increased burden and difficulty of doing this.

Instead of hoping for a de minimis finding, the legally-preferable approach is to require a non-exempt employee to keep an accurate record of the time spent in the work.  This might be done, for example, on a special form designed for this purpose.  The employee then submits this record so that the activities can be counted along with his or her other work in order to compute the employee’s wages.

Alternatively, cases and U.S. Labor Department interpretations dealing with analogous situations might arguably support developing a reasonable estimate of how long these activities take each day.  The employer would then reach an agreement or understanding with employees in advance as to how much time it will add to their hours worked to account for handling these duties.  Even so, it remains to be seen how the courts will react to this approach, and basing pay upon anything other than the actual facts always increases uncertainty for the employer.

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Handyman Insurance

Insurance might not be the first thing someone thinks about when running a business, but it should be an important consideration.   Handyman insurance is another requirement if you are thinking about starting a handyman business.  This website provides important insurance information on Handyman Insurance Coverage and quotes.

Handyman Insurance Coverage

Handyman insurance includes several types of coverage; each one offers a specific kind of protection for your business.  

(Handyman Insurance ) Commercial Auto: Covers a business's owned, no owned, and hired autos against liability and physical damage losses. 

Handyman Workers Compensation:  If your business as a Handyman employs any staff (including part-time, trainees or sub-contractors), Employers liability insurance cover is a legal requirement.  Employers liability insurance provides protection against your legal liabilities to pay compensation in respect of injury sustained by your employees in the course of your business as a Handyman.  (Handyman Insurance) Workers Compensation: Provides coverage for an employer's responsibility in the event of a work-related injury or illness.   Employers Liability Insurance for handyman work: This type of insurance would cover payment of legal fees and damages in the event that an employee was injured or killed while doing work for you. 

Tradesman Insurance for handymen: This is a package of several different kinds of cover for handymen, making up one policy that meets all your insurance needs.

Public Liability Insurance for handyman work: This type of insurance would cover you if your business activities caused injury or death to a member of the public.

Handyman General Liability - Commercial jobs will require you to have general liability coverage of $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 prior to being hired (not to mention that you protect your assets if something goes wrong on the job).

Products liability insurance for Handymen - Products liability insurance provides protection against your legal liability, compensation costs and expenses following injury or damage by goods that you have sold, supplied, repaired, tested or delivered in connection with your business as a Handyman.  Products Liability insurance for Handymen at 1,000,000 with the option to increase to 2,000,000 up to 5,000,000 or more.  Public Liability insurance cover provides protection against your legal liability for injury to third parties and damage to their property in connection with your business as a Handyman.

Professional Indemnity Insurance for handyman work: This covers you against any mistakes you might make  including bad advice you or your staff might give  that ends up costing your clients money, and leading them to take legal action against you.

(Handyman Insurance ) Umbrella Coverage: A broader form of coverage that extends the limits of liability found in a base policy form. 

Income Protection Insurance - If the essential person should be unable to work for a period of time, this handyman insurance helps to cover the loss of business as a result of the illness or injury.  Having sufficient income protection insurance is also a worth while consideration, if you were to fall off a step ladder or hurt your back and couldnt work, accident, sickness and unemployment insurance could help you to pay for some of your monthly bills in the event of you not being able to work.

The Handyman Insurance Program gives our policyholder comprehensive coverage for their handyman businesses, and the program is designed for Handymen who: Are hired to do a variety of miscellaneous work that would be found in a residential household environment;

Please note that standard home owner's insurance will most likely not cover business assets, and may VOID your home insurance coverage.  If your business is home-based, do you need more liability coverage than your home insurance policy covers. 

The Handyman program gives our policyholder comprehensive coverage for their handyman businesses, and the program is designed for Handymen.

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