SUPREME COURT RULES THAT WORKERS NEED NOT BE PAID FOR GOING THROUGH SECURITY CHECKS AT THE END OF THE WORK DAY

By TONI ELLINGTON

In a ruling that will affect all corporations and businesses, especially those businesses that employ workers or contractors who are transported to an off-site work area, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that workers who filled orders in Amazon warehouses did not need to be paid for their wait time while waiting to go through security clearance checks.  The ruling in the case of Integrity Staffing Solutions v. Busk, No. 13-433, was unanimous.

The Court found that employers must pay workers for their activities before and after their shifts only if the activities are “integral and indispensable” to the jobs they are hired to perform.  Amazon required the workers to go through security checks to make sure they had not stolen any products.  The wait times for the security checks could sometimes be as much as 25 minutes.  Integrity Staffing Solutions was a company which provided workers to Amazon.  The Court found that Amazon did not employ the workers to go through security checks, but to fill orders and package orders for shipment.

The case arose under the Fair Labor Standards Act, as amended by the Portal-to-Portal Act, 29 §§U.S.C. 251-262, which was passed in 1947 to exempt employers from having to pay workers for certain activities which take place before and after the work day.

For more information, contact Toni Ellington at (504) 599-8500.