Supreme Court Accepts Donning & Doffing Case

[Marlin]

This probably will not affect most Nukeworkers but I can see where it may apply to some, particularly in remediation and demolition.


U.S. Supreme Court Accepts Donning & Doffing Case

The case involves time spent by U.S. Steel workers to put on and later take off protective clothing, hard hats, ear plugs, boots, and hoods and also traveling from locker rooms to their workstations.
Feb 20, 2013

The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 19 agreed to hear Sandifer, et al. v. U.S. Steel Corp., No. 12-417, a case testing whether workers must be paid for time they spend donning and doffing protective equipment and then traveling to and from their workstations.

Lyle Denniston reported on www.scotusblog.com that the case is expected to be argued during the next term of the court, which begins in October 2013. The case involves name plaintiff Clifton Sandifer and several other U.S. Steel employees working at mills in Michigan and Illinois; it arose primarily from the company's Gary Works. U.S. Steel won the case before the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in May 2012, and the plaintiffs appealed.

The workers' union had agreed with U.S. Steel that time spent "changing clothes" would not be considered part of "the hours for which an employee is employed" -- language taken from the Fair Labor Standards Act, which in section 203(o) allows an employer and a union to agree that time spent "changing clothes' will not be included. The plaintiffs here contend changing into PPE is "a principal activity" they are employed to perform, and thus it triggers the start of the work day under FLSA.

To win their case, the workers will have to convince a majority of Supreme Court justices that protective gear is distinct from "work clothes," an argument the 7th Circuit explicitly rejected.

"Protection – against sun, cold, wind, blisters, stains, insect bites, and being spotted by animals that one is hunting – is a common function of clothing, and an especially common funding of work clothes worn by factory workers. It would be absurd to exclude all work clothes that have a protective function from 203(o), and thus limit the exclusion largely to actors' costumes and waiters' and doormen's uniforms," the appeals court held.

http://ohsonline.com/articles/2013/02/20/u.s.-supreme-court-accepts-case.aspx?goback=%2Egde_1338167_member_217405678

[Chimera]

So . . . if I put on my work shoes before I leave the house to go to work, does that mean my "work day" starts then?

[Marlin]

So . . . if I put on my work shoes before I leave the house to go to work, does that mean my "work day" starts then?

   I think the key words here are PPE and changing at work. No question for anti-C's but what about company issued PPE worn all day but not allowed to leave the site? For Example if you had to show up in modesty's for work but were not allowed to wear them home as a measure of contamination control, paid time or condition of employment?

[hamsamich]

I think this is a good thing, because some places want you in the work area (outside drywell) in scrubs with PED by your start time.  so all the security, all the ppe retrieval, all the dressing/rwp review is all off the clock.

[stownsend]

What's your thoughts on time getting into the protected area and traveling across site to get to a time clock? I've been to several plants that require you to be at the office at start time but you spend 20 minutes getting into the plant.
I remember Pilgrim 86/87 that took 45-60 minutes to get in. Oyster creek was the same way.
I feel that when I'm going through security to get my badge that is the same as getting my tools to do my job. I need my badge to open doors.

[x633ro]

Let me first state that this is my personal opinion. If I was working at walmart where every minute spent there made a difference, that would be one thing, but in an industry where most are making 6 figures it seems petty. Again this is my opinion and not intended to start a flame war.

[Marlin]

Let me first state that this is my personal opinion. If I was working at walmart where every minute spent there made a difference, that would be one thing, but in an industry where most are making 6 figures it seems petty. Again this is my opinion and not intended to start a flame war.

   Good point for operators and others in that category but there are many more in the nuclear industry that are not in that category and I did address that in the opening post.

This probably will not affect most Nukeworkers but I can see where it may apply to some, particularly in remediation and demolition.

[hamsamich]

different places have way different ways of doing things.  it would be nice if there was something that said "once you are on company property and are abiding by company rules you are on the clock".  company can just adjust the wage if it affects the company bottom line and people can decide whether or not they want to work for that wage if it ends up being lower than average.  of course people will say "they can already decide if they want to deal with the extra unpaid work by going dfr", but you don't know "the deal" until you get there.  and when you get there it is hard just to go to another job.  this type of info is usually not given out upfront...not a big deal, but working 12 hours a day 6-7 days a week, 30 min more becomes a bit of a hassle.

[HalfHazzard]

If getting paid for the time it takes to put on protective equipment is so important, why did the workers' union exclude that from the current contract? 

Sounds like the steel workers need a better union.

[Nuclear NASCAR]

This probably will not affect most Nukeworkers but I can see where it may apply to some, particularly in remediation and demolition.


U.S. Supreme Court Accepts Donning & Doffing Case

The case involves time spent by U.S. Steel workers to put on and later take off protective clothing, hard hats, ear plugs, boots, and hoods and also traveling from locker rooms to their workstations.
Feb 20, 2013

The workers' union had agreed with U.S. Steel that time spent "changing clothes" would not be considered part of "the hours for which an employee is employed" -- language taken from the Fair Labor Standards Act, which in section 203(o) allows an employer and a union to agree that time spent "changing clothes' will not be included. The plaintiffs here contend changing into PPE is "a principal activity" they are employed to perform, and thus it triggers the start of the work day under FLSA.

T

I'm not sure where you get that from this.  Have you got some information from their current contract that differs from the above information?

[Marlin]

I'm not sure where you get that from this.  Have you got some information from their current contract that differs from the above information?

http://ohsonline.com/articles/2013/02/20/u.s.-supreme-court-accepts-case.aspx?goback=%2Egde_1338167_member_217405678

[Nuclear NASCAR]

I'm sorry Marlin, I did a very poor job of asking that question of HalfHazzard.   My apologies.