Minimum Wage and Overtime Violations Lawyer & Attorney : Yezbak Law Offices : Off the Clock Work, Workplace Discrimination & Harassment

Judge Hayden Head of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas granted class status to a group of current and former employees of Sam Kane Beef Processors Inc. Judge Head ordered that notice should be sent to all hourly wage earners involved in production, processing, packing and cleaning activities during the three years prior to August 10, 2007. The workers who filed the lawsuit claim that they spend up to 2 hours a day engaging in unpaid work activities, including dressing and undressing, waiting in security lines and sanitizing equipment. Sam Kane Beef Processors argues that all of its employees were already paid for the disputed time.

The Supreme Court, in IBP v Alvarez, determined that meat processing workers must be paid for time spent donning and doffing protective or safety gear and equipment. In Alvarez, the Supreme Court also decided that under the continuous workday rule employees must be paid for all walking and waiting time occurring after donning but before doffing the required gear and equipment. 

Workers in meat processing and poultry plants have sued employers throughout the country. Tyson Foods in particular has faced many lawsuits regarding its alleged illegal pay practices. In 2007 the Third Circuit Court of Appeals decided that Tyson must pay its poultry workers for donning and doffing their safety gear. Pay practices at Tyson’s Goodlettsville, TN meat processing facility have been challenged in a lawsuit joined by over 600 workers. That case is scheduled for trial in August 2008.

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On September 6, 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that workers at Tyson Foods, Inc.’s poultry processing plant in New Holland, Pennsylvania engaged in work under the FLSA by donning and doffing required sanitary and safety gear.  In the case, De Asencio v. Tyson Foods, Inc. the Third Circuit court relied upon a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision, IBP v. Alvarez, which held that the FLSA required Tyson to pay its meat processing workers for similar donning and doffing work and all related waiting and walking time. 

Yesterday’s ruling by the Third Circuit is an important victory for meat and poultry processing workers. The court held that the worker’s donning and doffing activities constitute work as a matter of law. Tyson and other employers in the meat and poultry processing industry choose not to pay workers for time spent putting on, taking off, and collecting required safety gear and equipment. After the Supreme Court’s decision in Alvarez it is clear that workers must be paid for this kind of donning and doffing. Hopefully, this latest courtroom defeat will finally end Tyson’s steadfast refusal to pay its workers for all hours worked. 

The U.S. Department of Labor should be commended for its work on behalf of the unpaid workers. DOL lawyers involved in the appeal include: Howard M. Radzely, Solicitor of Labor; Steven J. Mandel, Associate Solicitor of Labor; Paul L. Frieden, Counsel for Appellate Litigation. Joanna Hull argued on behalf of the DOL.

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Meat processing facilities frequently fail to comply with the FLSA.  Typically, employers fail to pay employees for the time spent donning (putting on) and doffing (taking off) required sanitation gear and personal protective equipment. 

Employers in the meat processing industry must capture and pay employees for all time spent donning and doffing required sanitary/safety gear and equipment.  These employers must also pay for all the related walking and waiting time as well as other related duties (such as sharpening knives or sanitizing equipment). 

Employers in this industry also frequently fail to pay their employees for production work, and donning and doffing, performed during their meal periods. 

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