No, sometimes you just need to tell an employee something, and then have them verify they understand the information. In my opinion that does not qualify as work.
Because everything important happens during every employees working hours, and it is inconceivable that a plan could change for any reason while you aren't clocked in.
If you want work to get done you have to be coordinated. Just text back, its not that fucking hard.
I would agree that your boss shouldn't expect you to answer at all hours of the day or even remotely quickly, but if you literally never answer anything then I have very little sympathy for you when you get fired.
If my response to you can't wait for my next normal working hour, then that means I will have to carry my work communication device with me when I leave work and I will not be able to travel anywhere that puts me away from whatever communication type that you require for longer than the duration that you are willing to wait. This type of restriction has a term for it, it is referred to as being "on-call". Employees deserve to be compensated for being on-call. If your business requires your employees to be on-call, but you don't compensate them, then I have very little sympathy for you when you get sued or fined.
I think there is a difference between being on call and being expected to text your boss sometimes. You could literally just check your phone once a day at the same time and it would be fine. Maybe they should throw you a dime for that few seconds of grueling labor, but I don't really give a shit.
We are not slaves, we have a right to be be paid for our time. You are the one that set the rules. You, people like you, all these business people and "job creators". The days of employees working an entire career at one company and retiring with a pension are dead. You and your ilk killed it. Employees are just cost centers. Constant growth and profit are all that matters. Layoffs, soft layoffs, invisible layoffs, hiring freezes, attrition, trimming the fat, split shifts, workforce reduction, voluntary separation packages, contract positions... these aren't personal, they are just business. A companies interaction with its employee is a business transaction governed by contracts, employee handbooks, and labor laws. They specify the number of days I am allowed to be sick in a given year and even limit the number of days we are allowed to be sick at one time. And after all of that you want to talk loyalty and sacrifice?
There shouldn't be anything that requires the employee not be informed the next working day. If it's such an emergency you can't wait then you should call your doctor not your employee.