Evening star., 1947-02-09

Clemens Arm, q small, suburban De-
troit pottery company employing
about 100 persons. were there any
preliminary activities, that we
would consider In any way not part
| of the job and necessarily per-
formed before the employe started
to work."
The sum total OF these activities
for any one persons would be a
mere two or three minutes daily,
! the opinion asserted.
Citing number of law cases and
lpleadings, Judge Picard concluded
one phase of his opinion as follows:
| From the above it is apparent
| that this court not only would but
should, by the great weight of what
authorities there are, declare all
walking and preliminary activities
time involved in this case as de
minimis. We so hold as to activities. :"
The court then admitted that the
solution to the question of walking
time isn't quite SO simple"
For own Convenience.
"It is elementary to this court, the
opinion continued, that one who is
on his way to his own lunch in the
cafeteria set apart for him by his
employer, or outdoors, is walking
there for his own convenience and
necessity and not necessarily and
primarily for the benefit of the en-
ployer and his business.
Judge Picard compared the Mount
Clemens case to cases where miners
are forced to travel long distances
| in the bowels of the earth" and
found an "entirley different picture. !"
The court then said that, assum-
ing that the Supreme Court con-
Esiders at least IL minutes of walk
ing time involved in the Mount
Clemens case as not de minimis, this
time must be limited to that in
volved in going Ito and not from the
work bench
"" without setting any de min
imis figure herein, (we) hold all the
walking and preliminary activities
time consumed in this case is de
minimis," the jurist continued.
The court then raised the posi-
bility that he might be in error in
determining what the Supreme
Court meant last June.
Few Minutes Involved.
eff the opinions, administrative
letters, regulations and decisions of
our courts were followed this would
warrant any industry, including this
defendant, in not computing less
than 20 to Is minutes day in walk
ing time and preliminary activities
as compensate.
Never before" the court con-
tinued, "has anyone attempted to
bring walking and preliminary ac-
tivities time consumed into such
narrow, picayunish, meager sphere
Gas in the few minutes involved in
the Mount Clemens case). Further
more we do not believe that the
Supreme Court ever intended such
an interpretation"
Admitting that what applies here
may later be held to apply to indus
try in general" the court then en-
tered into the question of retroac-
tivity, holding:
"All employers who were not even
vaguely abiding by the (wage-hour)
administrators previous rulings
could and should be held retrcac-
lively, but under no circumstances
do we believe that this defendant
should be placed in that category.
Not only this defendant but the
manufacturing industry in general
should always be able to rely upon
those who must administer the Fair
Labor Standards Act until the Su-
preme Court has spoken, and any
change should put industry auto
matically on warning for the future.
Labor Limited In Collection.
zone should be protected for past
acts done in good faith. Otherwise
there can be no stability in an in
dustrial world when tomorrow may
see some new Interpretation of the
work week that would disrupt our