Does your company compensate workers for time spent going through a security screening?
The Court’s ruling could set a de facto national standard on post-work security screening compensation.
Does your company require workers to go through a extensive daily security search process – perhaps involving metal detectors and a manual search of employees’ bags or personal items – after a shift is over, without pay?
If so, your screening practice might be inviting legal trouble.
To be compensable, the security screening must be considered a “work activity” that is “integral and indispensable” to the employees’ work. Generally, the more necessary it is for the work and the more it’s for the benefit of the employer, the more likely it calls for compensation.
The Court recently denied pay for changing clothes before work. We’ll have to wait and see whether there’s a difference between pre-shift safety gear and post-shift security checks.
Review Your Screening Protocol
As the U.S. Supreme Court reviews the case and attempts to resolve the circuit split, the lesson here is that employers can potentially run afoul of state and federal minimum wage and overtime laws when security searches – conducted at the company’s request and solely for the company’s benefit – are performed without compensation.
Considering that other business giants like Apple and Forever 21 have faced similar lawsuits over unpaid employee bag searches, now might be a good time to review your bag search protocols.
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