On December 9, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court held unanimously, in the case of Integrity Staffing Solutions Inc. v. Busk et al, that workers do not have to be paid for time they spend passing through security screenings. Suit was brought by ex-workers at an Amazon.com warehouse against a staffing agency to be compensated for the time the workers spent waiting for and undergoing post-shift anti-theft screenings. Justice Thomas wrote, “We hold that an activity is integral and indispensable to the principal activities that an employee is employed to perform — and thus compensable under the FLSA — if it is an intrinsic element of those activities and one with which the employee cannot dispense if he is to perform his principal activities.” The Court found that the employees’ time spent waiting to undergo and undergoing the staffing agency’s screenings did not meet these criteria, reversing the previous ruling of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Authored by Sean W. Martin and Amanda E. Kelley of Carr Allison’s Chattanooga office
