This time of year, I give a lot of credit to delivery drivers and postal employees. You folks go through an obscene amount of heavy, bulky packages that are a pain for you, but a Christmas present for me. For the most part, you do it well and on time.
However, in this particular case, I think you have it wrong.
A case making its way through the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota claims FedEx is fleecing its warehouse workers for about a week’s wages every year.
The case is centered around the time between the security checkpoint and the timeclock.
A FedEx warehouse worker from Monticello claims every employee at the warehouse must enter and exit work through a single entry and security checkpoint. They are subjected to a security search and ID check, and then, once through security, they can proceed to the time clocks and punch in. The employee claims this process is required, and anyone who attempts to bypass the security screening is reprimanded. At the end of the day, the process is reversed. Employees clock out and then, to prevent theft, are required to go through another security screening.
At the center of the case is the amount of time an employee spends in line before or after reaching the time clocks. The suit alleges that due to the size of some of these fulfillment centers, it can take several minutes every day. Over the course of a year, the warehouses are allegedly keeping hundreds of thousands of dollars that should be paid to the hourly employees.
The suit asks for back pay, an equal amount in damages, attorney’s fees, and class certification for all hourly, non-exempt employees since December 10th, 2022. The suit is still in the pleading stage, and no determination of guilt has been made.
Playing Devil's Advocate, doesn't everyone have a little missing time when they get to work?
The security checkpoint is for the safety of the inventory in the warehouse. They’re making sure nothing is added to the packages (on the way in) or no packages are taken home with you (on the way out). If I had to guess, part of the employment contract states you must pass through security as a prerequisite of daily employment. You have to prove you qualify for work before you can GO to work.
Secondly, it’s just a few minutes. It’s not unusual for employees to put their personal stuff away before clocking in. In those cases, you have to be READY for work before you can clock in.
Even so, warehouses ask a lot from their workers. The easy solution here is to move the time clock to the FRONT of the security line. The company eats the extra few minutes, but saves face with their workers. I think that solution could have been reached without litigation or the threat of a class-action lawsuit.