The key to determining whether an employee’s pre- or post-employment activity is compensable is whether the activity is an “integral and indispensable part of the principal activities.” Nice sentence, but not terribly helpful. Thomas clarified that an integral and indispensable activity is “one with which the employee cannot dispense if he is to perform his principal activities.”

For this reason, the Court has found in previous cases that putting on protective clothing at a battery factory and sharpening knives at a slaughterhouse are things that an employee has to do in order to do his job. By contrast, picking things off shelves in a warehouse can be done without being screened to make sure an employee hasn’t stolen something.

Justice Sotomayor Helps Out

After Integrity Staffing Solutions v. Busk, businesses may well have even more questions about what’s compensable. The test, as Thomas pointed out, isn’t related to what the employer wants the employee to do. It’s certainly the case that the warehouse employer required employees to be screened before they left, but what the employer requires and what’s objectively absolutely necessary to performing the job can be different. Only the latter gets compensated.

Related Resources:

  • Supreme Court Doesn’t Understand Wage Labor (Bloomberg View)
  • Did Pro Sporting Events in Tampa ‘Employ’ Indentured Servants? (FindLaw’s In House)
  • Zillow Is the Latest Tech Company Sued for Alleged Sexual Harassment (FindLaw’s In House)
  • Would Your Company Benefit From Immigration Reform? (FindLaw’s In House)

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