Justices Say Steel Workers’ Donning/Doffing Of Gear Is ‘Changing Clothes’ Under FLSA

The time spent by U.S. Steel Corp. employees to put on and take off various pieces of protective gear falls within the scope of a Fair Labor Standards Act provision that allows employers to deny compensation for “changing clothes” pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement, the U.S. Supreme Court held Jan. 27 (Sandifer v. U.S. Steel Corp., 2014 BL 20038, U.S., 12-417, 1/27/14).

Writing for a unanimous court, Justice Antonin Scalia upheld a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit decision that FLSA Section 203(o) allowed U.S. Steel to withhold pay from workers for their ...