The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to pay employees for each workday, starting from time the employee begins their first “principal activity” and ending when the employee completes their last principal activity of the day. The U.S. Supreme Court determined that employers must also pay employees for the time spent engaging in preliminary and/or post-shift activities that are an “integral and indispensable part of the principal activities,” including the time spent “donning and doffing” (changing in and out of protective work equipment).

Under the FLSA, time spent on preliminary and/or post-work tasks must meet the “de minimis” standard to be compensable, meaning that the time spent on them must not be overly minimal. There is no strict definition of what is considered “overly minimal,” but courts examine a variety of factors when applying the “de minimis” standard, such as how regularly the tasks were performed and how difficult it is to record the time spent on the tasks. The Supreme Court has held that the “de minimis” standard must be applied to the total amount of time spent on preliminary and/or post-work activities. Therefore if the aggregate time spent exceeds the “de minimis standard, it is compensable.

IBP v. Alvarez

In 1999, production workers in a meat processing plant filed a class action lawsuit against their employer, IBP, Inc., demanding compensation for time spent donning and doffing protective gear, as well as time spent walking back and forth between the changing area and the meat processing area. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the donning and doffing of the workers’ gear was a principal activity itself, since was integral to the workers’ daily activities, and therefore compensable under the FLSA. The Court also held that the time employees spent walking to and from their work area after donning and before doffing was compensable because it was part of the continuous workday.

Girard Gibbs LLP is a law firm based in San Francisco, California. Our employment lawyers are highly knowledgeable about employee rights under federal and California employment law, and actively pursue claims on behalf of employees whose rights have been violated. If you believe you have been denied pay for time spent “donning and doffing”, or that your employee rights have otherwise been violated, please fill out the form below or call us toll free at (866) 981-4800 for a consultation without charge.

Important Note: This summary is intended to provide a basic overview of the typical types of employment cases handled by our firm. It is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.