Is time an employee spends passing through a security checkpoint worktime for which he or she should be paid?
A former Amazon employee thinks so and has filed suit against the company based on the following: after clocking out employees are required after the end of each shift to spend 10-20 minutes to pass through security checkpoints designed to police employee theft. Kelly Pavuk of Freeland, Pennsylvania worked for Amazon at a distribution center and was required to spend this unpaid time each day; she has filed a class action lawsuit for unpaid overtime in Pennsylvania state court.
Source: Columbus (Ind.) Republic
This suit looks like it has some solid ground in the law. Both federal and Kentucky state law require that an employee be paid for time spent on activities that benefits primarily the employer. Waiting for an employer to pass an employee through security checkpoint certainly appears to be time spent for the employer's benefit rather than the employee's.
Lexington, Kentucky wages and overtime lawyer Robert Abell represents employees and individuals seeking to recover the wages and/or overtime they've earned but not been paid; contact him at 859-254-7076.
