Retail giant Target has agreed to pay $4.6 million to settle charges that it violated New Jersey law by failing to pay warehouse workers for time spent undergoing security screenings and walking across a warehouse floor to and from work stations.

The case reminds HR pros that state laws can provide greater protections – sometimes much greater protections – for employees than federal law offers. Let’s dig in.

Workers Want Payment for Screenings, Walking Time

This suit was filed in a New Jersey state court in late November 2022.

Krystal Sadler worked at one of three New Jersey Target warehouses for a little more than two months between September and November of 2022.

Sadler, who sued on behalf of herself and other Target warehouse workers, said that she and other workers like her were subjected to mandatory pre-shift security screenings when they first arrived at the warehouse. They would then walk “long distances” to their assigned work locations – and it was not until then that they clocked in, the suit explained.

The suit further alleged that the warehouse workers were forced to clock out before making the trek back across the warehouse for a required post-shift security screening.

All of that walking and screening time should have been counted as paid time, the suit claimed.

Settlement of Wage Claims Follows Discovery

Target moved the case to a New Jersey federal court, and the two sides engaged in extensive discovery. In late June of this year, the parties sat down...

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