Protective Equipment Not Included in FLSA Exemption for Changing Clothes.

July 9, 2010 | By: Editor

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Source: Federal Employment Law Articles
Recently, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued an Administrator’s Interpretation (AI) reversing DOL positions published during the Bush Administration and stating that employees must be compensated for time spent donning and doffing certain kinds of “protective equipment” even if under the terms of the relevant collective bargaining agreement (CBA), or the CBA’s custom and practice, such time is to be unpaid. See Administrator’s Interpretation No. 2010-2, available on the DOL web site at: http://www.dol.gov/whd/opinion/adminIntrprtn/FLSA/2010/FLSAAI2010_2.htm. The AI also reverses other DOL interpretations and states that while time spent changing “clothes” (as opposed to “protective equipment”) can still be treated as unpaid time pursuant to the terms of a CBA or custom and practice, “subsequent activities, including walking and waiting, are compensable.”