Federal and state safety and health guidelines, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, call for extensive use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the workplace. Therefore, employers should carefully review their pay policies with regard to “donning and doffing.”
“Donning and doffing” refers to employees who put on and take off work-related PPE and other health and safety gear. Whether workers are entitled to compensation for time spent donning and doffing PPE has been a frequent subject of litigation. Federal standards can differ from state standards, and one state’s standards may be different from another state’s standards.
Claims for compensation for time associated with donning and doffing often are brought on a class-wide basis.
Employers can take steps to mitigate the risk of claims:
Employers should review their donning and doffing policies, to ensure that employees who don and doff extra equipment do so on the clock.
If employees must obtain the new equipment at work, the employer must ensure the employees retrieve it after clocking in and return it before clocking out.
Employers should control when employees are donning, doffing, and retrieving the new equipment so they are not “on the clock” before they are supposed to be.
If an employer is paying employees a flat amount of time or money to cover donning and doffing activities, the employer must ensure the flat amount is sufficient to cover the donning and doffing of the new equipment.
Union shops should review their agreement with the union to determine whether it addresses the issue of donning and doffing.
If employees have to clean or sanitize their own equipment, Employers must also ensure that is done on the clock as it is compensable time.
Employer’s circumstances vary. Some employers may need to take additional steps to reopen in light of COVID-19 that for the first time may require employees to don and doff PPE. As Employers reopen it is imperative that employers confer with their business and employment counsel to navigate the complexities involved in operating a business with employees during the pandemic.
The information presented is not intended to be, and does not constitute, “legal advice.” Because each situation varies, and only brief summary information is provided here, you should not use this information as a basis for action unless you have independently verified with your own counsel that it applies to your particular situation.
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