On October 24, 2022, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision in Cadena v. Customer Connex LLC, concerning whether the time employees spend booting up and shutting down their computers is compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"). Although the case arose out of a call center in Las Vegas, Nevada, where the employees' principal duties included answering customer phone calls, this case may affect all employers whose employees spend time turning on their computers to work.
In Cadena, the employees worked in a call center. The phone was a "soft phone," which operated only through the company's computer system. In order to answer a customer's phone call, the employees had to boot up the computer and log into the phone program. Employees estimated that it took anywhere from six to twelve minutes to boot up the computer, log into the phone, and clock in on the company's timekeeping system.
Two employees brought an action for unpaid wages under the FLSA, arguing the time it took to boot up their computers before clocking in should be compensable. The district court ruled such time was not compensable because starting and turning off employees' computers to clock in and out was not a principal activity for which the employees were hired. Thus, the time fell under the exception set forth in the Portal-to-Portal Act.
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