A unanimous Supreme Court has ruled that employees' donning and doffing of protective equipment and then traveling to and from their workstations is not compensable time under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) unless collectively bargained.
In Sandifer v. United States Steel Corporation, the court ruled: "We hold that petitioners' donning and doffing of the protective gear at issue qualifies as 'changing clothes' within the meaning of [the provision in the Fair Labor Standards Act that allows parties to collectively bargain over whether donning and doffing time must be compensated]."
The high court thus upheld an earlier decision by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.