IBP, Inc. v. Alvarez (2005)
- Docket
- 03-1238
- Decided
- 2005-01-01
Summary
Question: Did the Fair Labor Standards Act require employers to pay employees for time spent walking to and from stations that distributed required safety equipment? Conclusion: Yes. Justice John Paul Stevens, for a unanimous Court, wrote that putting on required safety equipment qualified as a "principal activity" under the FLSA. The workday began when employees started that activity and therefore included the subsequent time spent walking to the worksite. The time spent waiting to put on safety equipment before that, however, was not included in the workday because it was a "preliminary" activity under the Portal-to-Portal Act.