The Portal-to-Portal Act generally exempts employers from liability for pre-shift and post-shift activities unless they are “integral and indispensable” to the employee’s principal job activity. However, courts have struggled to find a concrete definition of “integral and indispensable”—leading to considerable uncertainty in employment policies and costly litigation.
The U.S. Supreme Court has provided important guidance for employers in the December 2014 Integrity Staffing Solutions v. Busk decision.
