Cadena v. Customer Connexx, LLC

In determining if an activity performed outside of regular working hours is compensable, the court must consider, “if those activities are an integral and indispensable part of the principal activity for which covered workmen are employed.” Steiner v. Mitchell, 350 U.S. 247, 256 (1956).

Plaintiffs alleged a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) when Customer Connexx LLC (Connexx) failed to compensate them for time spent booting up and shutting down their computers.  Plaintiffs appealed the district court’s summary judgment in favor of Connexx, which held that booting up the computer was not a “principal duty” of employees.  On appeal, Plaintiffs argued that time spent booting up and shutting down their computers is “integral and indispensable” because they cannot perform their duties without operational computers and thereby should be compensated.  In response, Connexx argued that under the de minimis doctrine, time spent booting up and shutting down computers is non-compensable because “it’s only a few seconds or minutes of work beyond the scheduled working hours.”  In determining if an activity performed outside of regular working hours is compensable, the court should consider, “if those activities are an integral and indispensable part of the principal activity for which covered workmen are employed.” Steiner v. Mitchell, 350 U.S. 247, 256 (1956).  The Court reasoned that the district court erred in considering time spent booting up and shutting down the computers for the purposes of timekeeping and it assumes that employees could work without clocking-in.  Instead, the correct analysis should consider if it was “integral and indispensable” as it relates to employees’ duties.  Reversed and remanded.