No More "De Minimus": Pennsylvania Supreme Court Strikes a Blow to Employers

In a case that will have a significant impact on employers, a divided Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that employees must be paid for the time they spend waiting for and undergoing security screenings mandated by their employers.

The case arose out of a claim made by employees of Amazon who alleged that they should be paid for the minutes spent waiting to be screened by security prior to exiting the Amazon building. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in a 5-2 decision, said Pennsylvania law defines “hours worked” as any time during which a worker is required to be on an employer’s premises, and that included the few minutes each day that workers spent in security checks at Amazon’s warehouse.
Amazon argued that the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act required employers to pay employees only for time they spend actually performing their assigned tasks and requiring employers to track and pay for screening time would be a burden for small businesses. Amazon further argued that the time should not be considered “time worked” as it was a “de minimus” amount of time spent. The “de minimus” argument was derived from the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), the federal law which governs the payment of employees. The FLSA provides for an exclusion of “de minimus” hours, which generally covered security searches before or after a shift provided it was a minimal amount of time spent performing the activity.
The majority of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected Amazon’s argument and found that the time employers require workers to wait for and undergo security screenings constituted “hours worked” under the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act. The majority further found that while the FLSA provides for a “de minimus” exception, Pennsylvania law does not recognize such an exception for hours worked. As a general matter, when the FLSA conflicts with state law, whichever law favors the employee is recognized, as is the case in this matter.
This decision willl have far reaching ramifications for employers. Pennsylvania employers with similar security screenings or other pre or post work requirements for employees, no matter how de minimus, must review their policies to ensure compliance with the Pennsylvania Supreme Courts interpretation of the Minimum Wage Act. A copy of the decision can be found here.
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