U.S. Supreme Court Says Compensation for Time Spent Donning Protective Clothing Is Not Mandated by Fair Labor Standards Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a provision in the Fair Labor Standards Act excluding time spent changing clothes from wage and hour mandates also applies to protective clothing and that compensation for such activities is a subject for collective bargaining.

The high court’s unanimous opinion affirming lower court decisions came Jan. 27 in a case in which workers and former workers at a U.S. Steel Corp. plant sought back pay for time spent “donning and doffing” protective clothing.

Clifton Sandifer and other petitioners sued over unpaid time spent putting on or taking off 12 items …