SUMMARY

• Plaintiff alleged required CPR, first aid, and seizure management trainings were uncompensated
• Court found trainings transferable, benefiting employees more than employer, making them non-compensable under FLSA
• Decision relied on precedent and Department of Labor‘s six-factor trainee test

By Brett Carpenter

The United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina has affirmed the dismissal of wage claims arising out of unpaid trainings employees were required to complete prior to their first day of work. In that case, Wade v. JMJ Enterprises LLC, the plaintiff alleged she was required to undergo pre-employment CPR, first aid, medication management, and seizure management trainings, and that she was not paid for her time spent completing those trainings.

The defendant, which operates a residential mental health company and three group homes, explained that, to receive funding from the state of North Carolina, it was required to have all employees complete these training certifications prior to working in the homes. Importantly, the trainings were not specific to the functions related to JMJ’s business and were instead transferable to other health care businesses. JMJ argued that the pre-employment training time was not compensable because the workers did not become employees until they completed these voluntary, state-mandated training requirements related to all similar healthcare providers.

In its prior order, the court noted that when a...

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