Chicago policeman is suing the city for violating Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulations. The suit claims that the city failed to keep accurate records of overtime for time spent (off-hours) on his employer-issued BlackBerry.

According to the law suit, the sergeant and the Collective Class were allegedly required to be on call and respond to communications outside of their normal working hours. The suit says that the employees were not compensated for the time spent on their employer-issued communication devices during off-hours, including overtime pay.

The sergeant and the Collective Class were all non-exempt employees and compensated on an hourly basis. They are suing for unpaid wages and overtime pay, as well as interest and attorney’s fees.

"Exempt employees, they make the same salaries no matter how many hours they work during a week, so using a BlackBerry from home at night is not an overtime issue for them. But when you're dealing with non-exempt employees, they have to be paid for all the time they work,"

Implications for employers. As technology advances, the legal issues surrounding employer-issued communication devices are becoming more prevalent in the workplace. The report by NPR notes the difficulty of legal issues associated with cell phones, PDAs, or other work-related devices, in particular when it comes to overtime.