Amazon Workers Largely Advance Suit Over Covid-19 Screening Pay

Amazon.com Services LLC must face the bulk of federal and state wage claims brought by a group of warehouse workers over time spent undergoing mandatory screenings for Covid-19 before their shifts, a federal judge in California ruled.

Amazon argued that the screenings weren’t compensable “work” under the Fair Labor Standards Act and California law because they weren’t conducted primarily for the company’s benefit, but rather to address a broader public health risk.

But the workers plausibly alleged that the screenings were compensable because Amazon instituted the practice to prevent a Covid-19 outbreak from disrupting its business, Judge Dale A. Drozd ...