Text messaging is a powerful internal communication tool for employers to communicate instantly with employees. However, just because employers can reach their employees at any time with SMS, it doesn’t mean they should.
To provide employees with a work-life balance, employers need to know when it’s appropriate to send texts outside of work hours, when it requires pay, and how to write effective messages.
In this article, we’ll discuss the rules and best practices for texting employees off the clock.
Jump right to:
- Can you text employees after hours? Rules and laws
- What about texting employees off the clock in California?
- Etiquette of texting employees off the clock
<h2 id="Can">Can you text employees after hours? Rules and laws</h2>
The short answer is that in the U.S., you can text employees after hours, but you should do it sparingly. However, to best understand the regulations for texting employees outside of work hours and if you need to compensate them, it’s important to understand the difference between salaried and hourly employees.
A salaried employee is also known as an exempt employee. ADP defines an exempt employee as someone who “must be paid a salary above a certain level and work in an administrative, professional, executive, computer, or outside sales role.” An exempt employee doesn't have to log their work hours and doesn’t qualify for overtime pay.
An hourly employee is referred to as a non-exempt employee. ADP defines a non-exempt employee as a person “entitled to minimum wage and overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours per week.” Non-exempt employees must log every minute they work to be paid and do qualify for overtime pay.
According to these standards, only hourly employees are required to log their hours worked outside of work. So, if you text your hourly employees outside of work hours, you need to determine whether you’re asking them to work or not.
So what is considered work?
According to the Fair Labor Standards Act, also known as the FLSA, “the workweek ordinarily includes all time during which an employee is necessarily required to be on the employer's premises, on duty or at a prescribed workplace.” Additionally, the workday is defined as the period between the time employees start their “principal activity” and the time on the same day their principal activity ends.
The key factor to deciding if a text message is considered work is whether or not you require your employee to take immediate action. When you text your employees outside of work, are you requiring them to take action on the spot? If yes, then this is considered work. If not, then it’s not considered work.
To help your employees understand if they are required to take action from your text message, be sure to clarify in your messages whether you want an action to be taken or not. This saves you and your employees time and eliminates confusion.
Here’s an example of a text that requires action vs. one that doesn’t.
<h2 id="What">What about texting employees off the clock in California?</h2>
Recently, Assemblymember Matt Haney introduced a bill that would guarantee California workers the “right to disconnect” from contact with their employers outside of work hours.
The bill would require employers to set an agreement outlining working hours and gives employees uninterrupted personal time. This includes the right to ignore emails, texts, and calls. If the bill is approved, the only exception to texting employees off the clock in California would include emergencies and urgent scheduling changes affecting the next 24 hours.
This bill would apply to salaried employees working in California and remote employees working for California-based companies.
If the proposal is approved, California would be the first state to have a “right-to-disconnect” law.
However, the proposal has faced backlash from employers and the California Chamber of Commerce who called it a “backstep in workplace flexibility.” The bill is currently in committee and held under submission, which means the bill will be discussed further, but there’s no motion to move on the bill in this legislative session. As a result, California companies should keep an eye on its progress but continue to follow the current regulations for texting employees outside of work for now.
<h2 id="Etiquette">Etiquette of texting employees off the clock, with examples</h2>
Employees crave a work-life balance and deserve to disconnect at times. Remember: when you’re messaging employees outside of work, the main goal is to make sure you respect your employees’ personal time.
In this section, we’ll cover the dos and don’ts of texting your employees off the clock with text examples. This will show you different ways to properly use after-hours texting.
Make texts work-related
Even though texting is more casual than other forms of communication, it’s crucial that you keep your text messages professional and work-related. This ensures you’re only reaching employees after hours with messaging that is crucial to their job.
In the following text examples, you see how to keep an outside-of-work message focused on the job and role, and avoid sending a text related to non-work items, so your employees can disconnect.
Set clear response expectations and actions
Be sure to clarify the expectations and actions required of your employees when sending off the clock texts. Let your employees know how and when to respond. You can also let them know that a response isn’t needed immediately.
In the following text example, you see one text that tells employees how and when to respond. The other doesn’t provide clear instructions.
Be concise
Being concise is essential to off-the-clock texts, so you are more mindful of your employees’ time. Make your text messages as short and digestible as possible. By being concise, you take up less of your employees’ time and reduce confusion.
In the text examples below, you can see how a shorter message lets employees read it quickly and avoid confusion.
Limit the number of out-of-work texts
Sending multiple off-the-clock texts is not only bothersome for your employees, but it also diminishes each message’s importance. Be sure to limit the number of off-the-clock texts you send. In short, if your message can wait until the next business day, you should wait to send it. After-hours should be reserved for more urgent text messages.
In the following example, you see how a better message is urgent, concise, and packaged as one message. The other message isn’t urgent and is split in multiple messages that could annoy an employee during their personal time.
Express gratitude
Let your employees know you are grateful to them for acknowledging and responding to your texts outside of work. Expressing your gratitude and appreciation is not only a common courtesy, but it also goes a long way in improving the employee experience.
You can see in the following message examples how gratitude can go a long way in maintaining a positive relationship with your employees.
Improve employee experience with Textline
Generally speaking, try to avoid texting your employees off the clock. However, there are certain cases where you need to send text messages to your employees outside of work hours. If you have to text employees off the clock, be sure to follow the proper text messaging etiquette and let your employees know how much you appreciate their time.
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