Introduction to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

K. P RE - AND P OST -S HIFT A CTIVITIES Time spent on activities that are considered preliminary and postliminary to an employee’s actual workday are specifically excluded from the definition of “hours worked” under the FLSA and are thus non-compensable. For example, time spent waiting for a paycheck after a shift is usually considered postliminary and is not counted toward hours worked. 62 The key criterion in determining whether the activity at issue is compensable hours worked is whether the activity is “integral and indispensable to the principal activities that an employee is employed to perform.” 63 If the activity is an integral and indispensable part of an employee’s principal activity, it is considered hours worked and compensable. Examples of work considered to be compensable preliminary or postliminary activity (and therefore compensable) include:

 Oiling, greasing or cleaning a machine in connection with the operation of the machinery;  Coming in early to work to distribute materials to other employees to prepare for the workday; 64

 Attending mandatory pre-shift meetings or briefings; 65

 Changing clothes and showering when the work requires it - e.g., because of extensive use of caustic materials on the job; 66

 Sharpening knives prior to working in a meat packing plant; 67

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Filling out paper work;

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Picking up trash; or

Re-fueling vehicles. 68

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The U.S. Supreme Court has held that time spent by warehouse employees waiting for and undergoing mandatory security screenings before leaving the workplace was not compensable under the FLSA because the screenings were not “integral and indispensable” to the duties the employees were hired to perform, i.e. retrieving products from warehouse shelves or packaging them for shipment. 69 The Ninth Circuit has held that time firefighters spent moving their gear from their assigned fire station to a volunteer assignment at a different fire station was not compensable because the gear moving time was based on the firefighters’ desire not to take their gear home, which was not integral and indispensable to their primary work duties. 70 L. D ONNING AND D OFFING Donning and doffing means changing into and out of uniforms and protective or other gear before the start and after the end of a work day. In general, simply changing into and out of a standard uniform is not compensable work. But if the employee must don and doff significant protective gear or other items on the employer’s premises in order to perform his or her job, and if the process takes more than a matter of seconds or minutes, then the employee may be entitled to compensation for the donning and doffing activities. 71 An employer may negotiate a

Introduction to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ©2020 (s) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 18