Wheels on the bus: If they're going round and round, must you pay?

Not everyone gets to park outside their office's front door and be at their desk within two minutes of turning off their ignition. In fact, in a recent case from the 5th Circuit, the workers were required to ride a bus to the jobsite, and on occasion, they would have to get to their park-and-ride site hours before their shift began so they could arrive in a timely manner. Was the employer required to pay them for that time since riding the bus was mandatory? What about the fact that the wait was protracted? Let's take a look!

Facts

In a suit against their employer, a group of employees argued time they spent riding buses to and from their jobsite was compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The employer disagreed, contending the time was strictly commute time and involved no actual work connected to their construction jobs, meaning they weren't entitled to be paid for the time spent commuting.

Decision

Under long-established U.S. Supreme Court precedent, work-related activities that take place before and after hours are compensable only if they are "an integral part of" and "essential to the principal activities of the employees." When a task is integral and indispensable, it is generally compensable.

As an illustration, the Supreme Court has held that changing clothing and showering at a battery factory (to remove battery fluid) and sharpening knives at a meatpacking facility were integral and indispensable, even though the activities fell outside regular work hours.