• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Owed Unpaid Wages?

Information for workers owed unpaid wages.

  • Home
  • About
    • Owed Wages?
    • Anatomy of an Unpaid Wages Lawsuit
    • Scholarship
  • News
    • Food Servers
    • Call Center
    • Minimum Wage
    • Off the Clock Work
    • Tip-Sharing
    • Unpaid Commissions
    • Unpaid Overtime Pay
    • Worker Misclassification
  • FAQs
  • Wage Theft
    • 2017 Wage Theft Report
    • “Off the Clock” Work
    • Donning & Doffing Time
    • Minimum Wage Violations
    • Misclassification of Workers
    • Overtime Pay Violations
    • Payroll Debit Card Fees
    • Suspect Record-Keeping
    • Tip-Sharing Violations
    • Unpaid Meal Breaks
    • Unreimbursed Expenses
  • Industries
    • Call Center Agents
    • Food Processing Workers
    • Hotel Workers
    • Non-Exempt Salaried Workers
    • Nurses & Aides
    • Restaurant Servers
    • Roadside Technicians
    • Telecommuters
    • Truck Drivers
    • Construction Project Supervisors
    • Gas Station Workers
    • Residential Property Managers
    • Private Security Guards
  • Contact
Welder working on metal work

Donning & Doffing Time

Many jobs and occupations involve protective clothing and equipment, and the time workers spend putting on and taking off that gear may entitle them to compensation.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) states that time spent “changing clothes or washing at the beginning or end of each workday” is not compensable, but there are notable exceptions associated with donning (putting on) and doffing (taking off) protective clothing and gear.

For example, if protective equipment worn by employees is “required by law, by the employer, or due to the nature of the job,” it not considered clothing. And because donning and doffing of protective equipment can be a “principal activity” related to an employee’s job responsibilities, the time spent putting it on and taking it off should be included in the employee’s work hours.

Various occupations and workplaces fall under this category, some of which have been the focus of class action litigation all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court:

  • Meat and poultry processing facilities
  • Chemical plants
  • Law enforcement

Every work environment and situation is different, but the real issue centers on the amount of donning and doffing time an employee requires each workday, and if that time pushes the work week above 40 hours, thus entitling the employee to overtime pay.

In one class action lawsuit against Hillshire Brands (formerly Sara Lee), production workers accused their employer of forcing them to don protective gear before beginning of their shifts and doffing the gear after their shifts ended, without compensating them for the pre-shift and post-shift time. Because time clocks were located in work areas scattered around the plant – sometimes far away from employee locker rooms – the employees were required to arrive early and stay later at the facility to put on and remove ear protection, safety glasses, steel toed boots, and bump caps. The jury found that the donning and doffing were “principal activities” for which they should have been paid, and because the company willfully violated the Fair Labor Standards Act willful, the employees could not only recover unpaid overtime, but also an extra year of damages.

Primary Sidebar

Questions? Get Answers

Call: 1-877-739-1127

Or Complete the Following Form:

News

  • U.S. Supreme Court Rules Against Auto Service Advisers In Overtime Lawsuit
  • Lyft Drivers Score Big Settlement As Gig Economy Wage & Hour Lawsuits Continue To Soar
  • Arizona Restaurant Chain Sued for Unpaid Wages
  • Gov’t Employees Sue Cuyahoga County for Unpaid Overtime
  • DOL: Alabama Security Company Withheld Millions in Wages

248-746-4057 Wage Authority Group / Terms ATTORNEY ADVERTISING

© Copyright 2017 All Rights Reserved.