In a unanimous decision, the California Supreme Court in the case of Frlekin v. Apple Inc., just held that the time spent by employees waiting for and undergoing security checks of bags and other personal items is compensable time under California law, even when the policy only applies to employees who choose to bring personal items to work.

In California, employees in most industries must be paid for the time they are subject to the control of their employer, not just the time spent doing work. This is so because, since 1947, California has specifically departed from federal law and has provided greater protection to working employees.

Fisher Phillips points out that over the last several years, the question of whether the time employees spent having their bags checked at work is compensable has arisen in several different contexts, in California and across the country:

— In late 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court held that security checks are not compensable time under federal law because they are not part of the actual workday.
— However, because California law requires employees to be compensated not only when they are working but also when they are subject to their employer’s control, the trial court in this case certified a statewide class on Apple’s security check policy in 2015.
— A few months later, the trial court found in Apple’s favor finding that, because employees can choose whether or not to bring a bag into work, the application of the security check policy depended entirely the employees’ choice.
— Last year, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that the time spent on mandatory security checks at Nike and Converse stores was likely compensable under California law, since California law no longer follows the federal “de minimis” doctrine that allows employers to not compensate for tasks that take only a short amount of time.

The California Supreme Court agreed in it’s new decision, that employee choice is a consideration but ruled that it was not the only consideration. Instead, the court provided a multi-factor test within which to analyze the employee-choice issue. Particularly with respect to “onsite employer-controlled activities,” whether the time is compensable depends on a number of factors, which include:

— The mandatory nature of the activity;
— The location of the activity;
— The degree of the employer’s control;
— Whether the activity primarily benefits the employee or employer; and
— Whether the activity is enforced through disciplinary measures.

In this case, the Supreme Court found that the time spent on bag checks at Apple cut in favor of compensable time under several of these factors: it occurred on the employer’s premises, employees subject to the policy were prevented from leaving the premise while waiting for and undergoing the security check; it was enforced through disciplinary measures; and, rejecting Apple’s argument that security checks benefit employees, the court found that the security check policy primarily benefited the employer as a theft prevention measure.