Security Time Not Working Time: Supreme Court Rules Employer Need Not Pay Employees For Going Through Security After Work

In order to prevent employee theft, some employers — particularly in the retail arena — require their employees to undergo security screenings before leaving the employer's facilities. The United States Supreme Court recently ruled that Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. (Integrity), a staffing company used by Amazon.com, did not need to pay employees for such time spent going through post-work security screenings. Intergrity Staffing Solutions Inc., v. Busk, et al. No. 13-433 (Dec. 9, 2014).

Facts

Integrity employed individuals to work at Amazon.com packaging facilities throughout the United States. As part of their employment, Integrity required that its employees undergo security screening before leaving the warehouse at the end of each day. During this screening, employees removed items such as wallets, keys, and belts from their possession and passed through metal detectors. Integrity did not pay the employees for time spent going through this security protocol.

The Case Below

Several former employees filed a putative class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada, contending that they were entitled to be paid for the time spent undergoing security screenings before leaving the warehouse, which they estimated took 25 minutes per day. The District Court dismissed the lawsuit, holding that the time spent in screenings was postliminary, noncompensable time, as it was not integral and indispensable to the employees' principal activities of retrieving items and packing boxes. Busk v. Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc., No. 2:10-CV-01854-RLH, 2011 WL 2971265 (D. Nev. July 19, 2011). The Ninth Circuit reversed that decision, concluding that activities that might normally be considered postliminary and noncompensable become compensable if they are required by the employer and performed for the employer's benefit. Busk v. Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc., 713 F.3d 525 (9th Cir. 2013).

The Supreme Court's Analysis

The Supreme Court granted certiorari on the issue of whether the time spent going through security is compensable. A unanimous Court concluded that it was not, reversing the Ninth Circuit's decision. The Court first explained that Congress passed the Portal-to-Portal Act, which amended the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in order to respond to an "economic emergency" created by the broad judicial interpretation given to the FLSA's undefined terms "work" and "workweek." The Portal-to-Portal Act...