Emphasizing that the proper test for whether oil rig employees should be paid for time spent changing in and out of protective clothing is whether changing is integral and indispensable to productive work, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently vacated summary judgment for an employer and sent the case to trial.
The employer, an oil company whose workers include rig hands who drill oil and gas, follows workplace safety regulations in requiring them to wear protective gear, including flame retardant coveralls, steel-toed boots, hard hats, safety glasses, gloves and ear plugs. Although rig hands face risks of fire, crushed toes, flying debris, electric shock and chemical exposure on the job, they are not paid for the time spent changing in and out of protective gear.
The rig hands, arguing they should be paid for the time spent changing in addition to the time spent walking from the changing house to safety meeting locations, sued the employer under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The employer argued that changing into and out of protective gear is a preliminary and postliminary activity and thus not compensable under the Portal-to-Portal Act. The rig hands countered that donning and doffing gear is both integral and indispensable to what the parties agree is their principal activity: drilling for oil and gas.
The district court granted summary judgment to the employer, but the appeals court found the lower court had applied the wrong legal test.
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