Maybe you are familiar with the “donning and doffing” rule that, in some cases, mandates that an employee is paid for the time they spend dressing and undressing for work. Typically these cases involve employees who are working with toxic chemicals or extreme conditions and need to wear other kinds of personal protective gear. In a ruling out of Wisconsin, canning employees are now going to be paid for the time they spend changing into their uniforms, which can also mean if they are injured during that time they can seek workers’ compensation benefits.

The Hormel Foods Co. runs a Beloit, WI canning plant and their workers are required to wear certain uniforms and safety equipment to meet food safety standards. The state’s Supreme Court ruled that the employees need to be paid for the time they spend changing, and Hormel is responsible for paying back wages to over 300 employees. Hormel requires them to wear hard hats, hearing protection, eye protections, sanitary shoes and hair nets. All of these are provided by the company and employees estimate they spend 5.7 minutes a day changing. Over the year that adds up to 24 extra hours they are at work.

The main job function of the employees is preparing canned food, which requires them to wear equipment that ensures the food is clean and safe to eat, equipment they are not allowed to wear outside the plant in case it contaminates their clothing. That means they must be at work to change, and they must be changed and ready to go by the time they start their shift so they have to get to work a little early.

This is an issue that has been subject to scrutiny in many cases. The Fair Labor Standards Act says that things done before the employee starts their principal activities and after they stop their principal work activities are not compensable. A lot of employees argue that putting on specialized clothing is a required part of their job, which is why the donning and doffing standard has been to court so many times. In this case, it was ruled that getting dressed was essential for these employees to do their work, and part of their main job function, so they could be compensated for the time.