Employers may give the thumbs-down to the Blackberry
We have four fingers and a thumb. The thumb is very useful, because when combined with our fingers, it allows us to grip tools, weapons, food, and lots of other things. We can give the thumbs-up or thumbs-down, we can hitch hike with it and we can even wrestle with it. But, as far as we know, there yet to be a thumb-related lawsuit… until now.
In the last few years, we have been introduced to the Blackberry device with its tiny keyboard that is only accessible with our thumbs. The newest medical condition caused by this device is called the “Blackberry Thumb.“ The condition causes pain, throbbing, swelling and tendonitis, according to the American Physical Therapy Association. Many employers provide Blackberry’s to their employees to make them more productive. We think that the gain in productivity might be out-weighted by the potential liability. It will follow carpal tunnel into the annuals of Worker’s Compensation history.
USA Today talked to Frank Morris yesterday, an attorney in Washington, D.C. Morris says “Employers need to develop policies on PDA use. They also face a liability risk because some employees could argue they’re entitled to overtime if a staffer is expected to use a company-provided PDA after work hours.“ Lawyers will try to get overtime pay for their clients, and use the Worker’s Compensation laws to get big paydays. Employers beware.
Read [USA Today]
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there should at least be some sort of understanding of when and why you’d need to bother your workers when they’re not at work.
http://www.blottoes.com
on November 14, 2006 at 10:53 PM - LINKTo avoid repetitive thumb strain try using the Phraze-It keyboard for the screen of Windows Mobile Pocket PCs and PDA phones.
Phraze-It offers large buttons on the touch screen of your Pocket PC for typing with your index fingers.
The Phraze-It Keyboard not only lets you type comfortably with your fingers on large touch screen buttons, but also leaves room to view and edit at least 6 lines of text.
Typing with your index fingers is natural, efficient and easy. The unique keyboard provides computer keyboard functionality, multilingual support and gives large buttons for accurate typing with your index fingers. In addition, Phraze-It gives you a very useful alternative to thumbing.
Use Phraze-It to type emails, mobile messages and documents in Pocket Word.
on November 15, 2006 at 01:34 PM - LINK