Via John comes this story of new frontiers in employer-employee relations.
Keeping employees on electronic leashes such as laptops, BlackBerries and other devices that keep them constantly connected to the office could soon lead to lawsuits by those who grow addicted to the technology, a U.S. academic warns.In a follow-up to an earlier paper on employees' tech addictions, Gayle Porter, associate professor of management at the Rutgers University School of Business in Camden, N.J., has written a paper that states workers whose personal lives suffer as a result of tech addictions could turn their sights on their employers.
"These people that can't keep it within any reasonable parameters and have these problems in their lives, at some point may say: 'My life is not all that great. How did this happen? Who can I blame for this?' " Porter, who co-authored the study with two other academics, said in an interview last week. "And they're going to say, 'The company.' "
Research In Motion's BlackBerry wireless device - jokingly dubbed the "CrackBerry" by some - is well known for what some describe as its addictive properties.In most major North American and European cities, businesspeople can be seen gazing nose-down into their BlackBerry screens.
Porter says she isn't picking on RIM or the BlackBerry in particular, but notes that terms like "CrackBerry" show that "there is, however lightheartedly, some acknowledgment that many people have kind of gotten out of control with using these devices."