Employees Must Be Paid for Time Spent Putting On and Taking Off Safety Wear and Equipment

    Employees at chicken-processing plant must be paid for time spent putting on and taking off ("donning and doffing") safety wear and equipment a federal district court in Maryland has ruled.  Such time is compensable under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act the court ruled in Perez_v_Mountaire_Farms. (US Dist Ct of Maryland, Civil No. AMD 06-121).
    At the beginning of each shift employees were required to put on protective gear including a lab coat, ear plugs, helmet, apron, hair net, safety glasses, steel-toed boots and gloves.  The time spent putting on and taking off this protective gear could not be considered merely "changing clothes" because the employer regarded them as necessary safety equipment and they were not items employees would normally wear.  Therefore, the court ruled that the time was compensable. 

Robert L. Abell
www.robertabelllaw.com