Time Waiting For Security Screens Should Be Paid Time Too

Temporary warehouse workers in Nevada won a pay case about unpaid security checks. The decision came from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In Busk v. Integrity Staffing Solutions, the court ruled that exit security scans may count as paid work time under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Workers claimed the scans happened at work.

They said the scans aimed to stop theft. They also said the process protected the employer, not personal needs. Since the scans were required to leave the shift, the court treated the 25-minute exit delay as work time. The court accepted these claims as valid for review.

What Was Not Paid Time

The same workers also asked for pay while walking to lunch areas. The court rejected this request. The judges said the lunch walk did not support core warehouse duties. The claim also included a 5-minute security check before lunch. The court ruled that 5 minutes was too short to pay. It used the de minimis standard, meaning time that is small enough to ignore. The lunch walk claim was also reviewed under the Portal-to-Portal Act, which excludes certain pre-shift and post-shift walks. The court noted a big difference: screening at shift end caused a 25-minute delay. Lunch clearance caused only a 5-minute one-way check.

Why This Decision Still Matters

This ruling helps companies understand when time becomes paid work. A security scan may count as paid if: it happens at work, it protects employer assets, it ties to job access, and it delays shift end for employer benefit. Longer scans affect personal time and should be logged. Clear clock placement prevents disputes. Firms that define duties better reduce stress. Employees return with better focus when rules are fair.

Quick Rules for Paid vs Unpaid Time

• Paid: Exit security scans lasting 25 minutes, required at work, benefiting the employer.
• Unpaid: Lunch walks and 5-minute one-way security checks that count as de minimis.

Employer Readability and Compliance Checklist

✅ Use active policy language
✅ Keep sentences short
✅ Avoid repeated sentence starts
✅ Place clocks near duty points
✅ Log scan times accurately
✅ Train HR and shift teams
✅ Explain security purpose clearly
✅ Review de minimis limits
✅ Publish leave and duty rules in simple terms

Final Summary for Readers

Workers challenged unpaid duty time. The court approved part of the claim. It rejected small or personal-activity time. The key takeaway is clear: job-linked scans that protect the employer may count as paid work. Personal or very short transitions do not. This case improved clarity for duty-time rules in Nevada warehouses.