The Illinois Supreme Court recently held that the Illinois Minimum Wage Law (ILMWL) does not incorporate federal rules excluding certain preliminary and postliminary activities from compensable working time. In Johnson v. Amazon.com Services, LLC, the Illinois Supreme Court created an important distinction between Illinois and federal wage and hour law that may require Illinois employers to compensate employees for certain activities performed before or after their normal work duties.
Federal Law and the Portal-to-Portal Act
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes federal minimum wage and overtime requirements. The federal Portal-to-Portal Act (PPA) generally excludes from compensable time activities that are preliminary or postliminary to an employee’s principal work activities.
Under the PPA, activities such as certain security screenings, waiting in line to check in, and changing clothes may be non-compensable when they are not integral and indispensable to an employee’s principal activities. Other activities, such as putting on required protective equipment or preparing critical tools and machinery, may still constitute compensable work.
Although the ILMWL largely mirrors the FLSA, the Illinois Supreme Court determined that Illinois law does not incorporate the PPA’s exclusions for preliminary and postliminary activities.
The Johnson Decision
In Johnson, Amazon required employees to undergo medical screenings during the COVID-19 pandemic before clocking in for their shifts. The screenings allegedly lasted approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Employees filed suit seeking compensation for that time under both the FLSA and the ILMWL.
The Seventh Circuit certified to the Illinois Supreme Court the question of whether the ILMWL incorporates the PPA’s exclusions. The Illinois Supreme Court held that it does not.
In reaching its decision, the Court focused on Illinois regulations broadly defining “hours worked” to include time when an employee is required to be on duty, on the employer’s premises, or at another prescribed workplace, as well as additional time the employee is required or permitted to work. Because neither the ILMWL nor its regulations incorporated the PPA’s exclusions for preliminary and postliminary activities, the Court declined to apply those exclusions under Illinois law.
What Illinois Employers Should Know
The Johnson decision means that an activity considered non-compensable under federal law may nevertheless be compensable under Illinois law. Illinois employers therefore should not rely solely on the FLSA or the PPA when determining whether employees must be paid for activities performed immediately before or after their scheduled shifts.
Employers should review any required pre-shift and post-shift activities performed while employees are off the clock. Practices developed around the federal PPA standard may need to be reconsidered under the broader Illinois standard.
For more information about this development, please contact Jackson T. Treadway, Mark A. McAnulty, or another member of the KDDK Labor and Employment practice group.
