State court rejects federal standards in ruling that could upend HR policies nationwide
Connecticut just told Amazon it must pay workers for security screening time, breaking with federal law in a ruling that could reshape timekeeping policies.
In a decision, the Connecticut Supreme Court sided with warehouse workers in a dispute that started with metal detectors and ended with a major statement about when employees must be paid.
The case began when three former Amazon fulfillment center employees sued over a practice that might sound familiar to anyone who has worked in retail, warehousing, or manufacturing. At the end of their shifts, workers had to go through security screenings before they could leave the building. Amazon did not pay them for this time.
Javier Del Rio, Colin Meunier, and Aaron Delaroche worked at Amazon facilities in Windsor and North Haven between 2018 and 2021. Like other warehouse employees, they had to pass through metal detectors on their way out. Depending on what they carried, the process could be quick or take several minutes. Workers with nothing on them could walk through express lanes without stopping. Those with keys or wallets in their pockets used divesting tables. Anyone carrying a bag or lunch box had to put it through an X-ray machine.
The screening typically took three minutes or less, though workers testified it occasionally stretched to ten or even twenty minutes when alarms went off and secondary screening was required. Amazon argued these were small amounts of time that federal law allows employers to disregard as trivial.
A federal district court agreed with Amazon, ruling that Connecticut wage law was meant to match federal standards. Under federal law, time spent in security screenings counts as a post-work activity that does not have to be paid. The workers appealed, and the case eventually reached the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which asked Connecticut's highest court to clarify what state law actually requires.
The Connecticut Supreme Court delivered an answer that will matter to HR departments across the state. Writing for a unanimous court, Justice Ecker said the state's wage law is clear: employers must pay workers for all time they are required to be on company premises, period.
The key statute defines compensable hours as all time an employee is required by the employer to be on the premises, whether or not the employee is working. It even specifically mentions time when an employee must wait on the premises while no work is provided. Since Amazon required workers to stay on site for security screenings, that time has to be paid.
Amazon pushed back on several fronts. The company argued the statute was unclear because it does not define what counts as work. The court disagreed, pointing out that the statute does not make compensability depend on whether someone is working. It depends on whether the employer requires them to be there.
The company also warned that a broad reading would create absurd results, making it impractical for employers to track every minute. The court was not convinced. Justice Ecker noted that Amazon could easily solve the problem by moving its time clocks to a spot after the security screening area instead of before it. Workers could then clock out after finishing the screening process.
On the question of whether Connecticut follows the federal rule allowing employers to ignore tiny amounts of time, the court said no. Federal regulations let employers disregard small periods that are hard to track precisely. Amazon argued Connecticut had adopted this approach through its regulation allowing employers to round time to the nearest fifteen minutes.
The court explained these are two different things. Rounding is meant to simplify recordkeeping while still ensuring workers get paid for all their time, since the rounding goes both ways and should average out. The federal exception, by contrast, lets employers simply not pay for certain small increments. Connecticut has not adopted that exception through statute, regulation, or court decision.
The ruling affirms that Connecticut provides stronger wage protections than federal law requires. For HR professionals, it creates a compliance landscape where practices acceptable under federal standards may violate state law.
The immediate impact is straightforward. Connecticut employers who require workers to undergo security checks, bag inspections, or similar procedures on company property need to make sure workers are still on the clock when they do so. But the reasoning could extend further, potentially covering any mandatory activity that keeps employees on site before or after their scheduled shifts.
The decision will now guide the federal court as it resolves the underlying lawsuit. For Amazon and other Connecticut employers, it means reviewing timekeeping policies and potentially facing claims for past unpaid time.
