If an employee, particularly an hourly paid employee, receives and responds to e-mails and/or texts on his/her time after hours, is he/she required to be paid by his/her employer? Does it matter whether it is on a company-paid cell phone or his her/her own phone? Brooke Duncan, from the law firm Adams and Reese in New Orleans, LA, responds: The simple answers are yes and no. Yes, hourly workers should be paid when they answer emails, phone calls, texts, carrier pigeon messages, etc. on their off-time. No, it makes no difference whether the instrument is theirs or their employer's. Now, having said this, the U.S. Department of Labor applies what's known as ...