Time Spent Donning And Doffing Protective Clothing Is Compensable
On June 16th the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour division issued a new interpretation regarding compensation for time spent changing clothes under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Pursuant to the FLSA, Sec. 29 U.S.C. Sec. 203(o), under certain circumstances employers may exclude the time spent changing clothes from employee’s compensable time. Previous Bush-era interpretations concluded that the exclusion extended to protective clothing.
Stating that these interpretations should no longer be relied upon, the WHD administrator concluded that employers are not excused from paying employees for time spent “donning and doffing” protective equipment that is “required by law, by the employer, or the nature of the job.”
This interpretation follows several recent cases that have evaluated whether individuals – such as firefighters – are entitled to pay for time spent donning and doffing.
Emphasizing the difference between the plain meaning of the term “clothes” and the protective equipment worn by workers such as in the meat packing industry, the WHD administrator determined that compensating those who must don and doff protective clothing and equipment “adheres most closely” to the guidance provided by statutory language and legislative history.
The FLSA is an extremely complex statute. If you are in a profession that requires you to wear protective clothes as part of your job, you may be entitled to compensation for time spent “donning and doffing” this clothing. For more information or if you believe you have been denied fair compensation in any manner, please contact Buckley & Klein, LLP, a Georgia Law Firm dedicated to employee’s rights.
