Apple Case Shows Federal-State Split on Security Screening Pay

The California Supreme Court’s ruling Thursday that Apple Inc. must pay store workers for time spent in anti-theft security checks when they leave work highlights a legal issue that’s settled at the federal level but continues to develop as a matter of state law.

Retail, warehouse, and shipping company workers have pressed state law wage claims in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2014 that created a high bar for proving that those screenings should be compensated under federal law. A federal appeals court subsequently said that security screening time can straightforwardly be considered paid work under ...