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Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 16', '§ 11', '§ 7', '§ 201', '§ 16', '§ 7', '§ 11', '§ 7', '§ 7']

ANDERSON V. MT. CLEMONS POTTERY CO., 328 U. S. 680 - Volume 328 - 1946 - Full Text - US Supreme Court Center - USSC Cases - Nolo
US Supreme Court Center > Volume 328 > ANDERSON V. MT. CLEMONS POTTERY CO., 328 U. S. 680 (1946) > Full Text
ANDERSON V. MT. CLEMONS POTTERY CO., 328 U. S. 680 (1946)
1. An employee who brings suit under § 16(b) for unpaid minimum wages or overtime compensation, together with liquidated damages, has the burden of proving that he performed work for which he was not properly compensated. P. 328 U. S. 686.
2. This burden is met by proof that he has in fact performed work for which he was not properly compensated, and by sufficient evidence to show the amount and extent of that work as a matter of just and reasonable inference. P. 328 U. S. 687.
3. The burden then shifts to the employer to come forward with evidence of the precise amount of work performed, or with evidence to negative the reasonableness of the inference to be drawn from the employee's evidence. P. 328 U. S. 687.
4. If the employer fails to produce such evidence, the court may then award damages to the employee, even though the result be only approximate Pp. 328 U. S. 688, 328 U. S. 693.
5. An employer who has not kept the records required by § 11(c) cannot be heard to complain that damages assessed against him lack the precision of measurement that would be possible had he kept such records. P. 328 U. S. 688.
7. Since there was no requirement that an employee check in or be on the premises at any particular time during the 14-minute interval, the time clock records could not form the sole basis of determining the statutory workweek. Pp. 328 U. S. 689-690.
8. Time necessarily spent by the employees in walking to work on the employer's premises is working time within the scope of § 7(a), and must be compensated accordingly, regardless of contrary custom or contract. However, application of the de minimis rule is not precluded where the minimum walking time is such as to be negligible. Pp. 328 U. S. 691-692.
9. Time necessarily spent by employees in preliminary activities after arriving at their places of work -- such as putting on aprons and overalls, removing shirts, taping or greasing arms, putting on finger cots, preparing the equipment for productive work, turning on switches for lights and machinery, opening windows, and assembling and sharpening tools -- must be included within the workweek, and compensated accordingly. However, application of the de minimis rule to insubstantial and insignificant periods of time spent in such activities is not precluded. Pp. 328 U. S. 692-693.
10. Unless the employer can provide accurate estimates as to the amount of time spent in such activities in excess of the productive working time, it is the duty of the trier of facts to draw whatever reasonable inferences can be drawn from the employees' evidence. P. 328 U. S. 693.
11. As to waiting time before and after the shift periods, the findings of the special master, that the employees had not proved that they were in fact forced to wait or that they were not free to spend such time on their own behalf, were supported by substantial evidence, and must be sustained. P. 328 U. S. 694.
gave judgment in favor of the employees. 60 F.Supp. 146. The Circuit Court of Appeals reversed, and ordered the suit dismissed. 149 F.2d 461. This Court granted certiorari. 326 U.S. 706. Reversed and remanded, p. 328 U. S. 694.
Several important issues are raised by this case concerning the proper determination of working time for purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, 52 Stat. 1060, 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq.
Seven employees and their local union, on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated, brought this suit under § 16(b) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, alleging that the foregoing method of computation did not accurately reflect all the time actually worked, and that they were thereby deprived of the proper overtime compensation guaranteed them by § 7(a) of the Act. They claimed, inter alia, that all employees worked approximately 56 minutes more per day than credited by respondent, and that, in any event, all the time between the hours punched on the time cards constituted compensable working time.
The employer cannot be heard to complain that the damages lack the exactness and precision of measurement that would be possible had he kept records in accordance with the requirements of § 11(c) of the Act. And even where the lack of accurate records grows out of a bona fide mistake as to whether certain activities or nonactivities constitute work, the employer, having received the benefits of such work, cannot object to the payment for the work on the most accurate basis possible under the circumstances. Nor is such a result to be condemned by the rule that precludes the recovery of uncertain and speculative damages. That rule applies only to situations where the fact of damage is itself uncertain. But here, we are assuming that the employee has proved that he has performed work and has not been paid in accordance with the statute. The damage is therefore certain. The uncertainty lies only in the amount of damages arising from the statutory violation by the employer. In such a case,
Story Parchment Co. v. Paterson Parchment Co., 282 U. S. 555, 282 U. S. 563. It is enough under these circumstances if there is a basis for a reasonable inference as to the extent of the damages. Eastman Kodak Co. v. Southern Photo Materials Co., 273 U. S. 359, 273 U. S. 377-379; Palmer v. Connecticut Railway & Lighting Co., 311 U. S. 544, 311 U. S. 560-561; Bigelow v. RKO Radio Pictures, Inc., 327 U. S. 251, 327 U. S. 263-266.
(1) On the issue as to the extent of the actual productive work performed, we are constrained to agree with the special master that it began and ended at the scheduled hours. This was purely a factual issue. The master made his findings in this respect through the weighing of conflicting evidence, the judging of the reliability of witnesses, and the consideration of the general conduct of the parties to the suit. The master thereby concluded that productive work did not begin before the scheduled hours except in a few instances which were counterbalanced by occasions when work began after the scheduled hours or ended before the scheduled cessation of productive work. Our examination of the record leads us to acquiesce in these findings since they are supported by substantial evidence, and are not clearly erroneous. And the court below correctly held that the District Court erred in failing to accept these findings and in creating a formula of compensation based upon a contrary view. Rule 53(e)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See Tilghman v. Proctor, 125 U. S. 136, 125 U. S. 150; Davis v. Schwartz, 155 U. S. 631, 155 U. S. 636-637.
Moreover, it is generally recognized that time clocks do not necessarily record the actual time worked by employees. Where the employee is required to be on the premises or on duty at a different time, or where the payroll records or other facts indicate that work starts at an earlier or later period, the time clock records are not controlling. Only when they accurately reflect the period worked can they be used as an appropriate measurement of the hours worked. In this case, however, the evidence fails to indicate that the time clock records did so mirror the working time. They did not show the time during which the employees were compelled to be on the premises or at any prescribed place of work. They thus could not form the sole basis of determining the statutory workweek. See Interpretative Bulletin No. 13, paragraphs 2 and 3, issued by the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division, U.S. Department of Labor; Wage and Hour Manual, Cumulative Edition, 1944-1945, p. 234.
No claim is here made, though, as to the time spent in waiting to punch the time clocks, and we need not explore that aspect of the situation. See Cameron v. Bendix Aviation Corp., 65 F.Supp. 510. But the time necessarily spent by the employees in walking to work on the employer's premises, following the punching of the time clocks, was working time within the scope of § 7(a). Ballard v. Consolidated Steel Corp., 61 F.Supp. 996; Ulle v. Diamond Alkali Co., 8 WHR 1042. Such time was under the complete control of the employer, being dependent solely upon the physical arrangements which the employer made in the factory. Those arrangements in this case compelled the employees to spend an estimated 2 to 12 minutes daily, if not more, in walking on the premises. Without such walking on the part of the employees, the productive aims of the employer could not have been achieved. The employees' convenience and necessity, moreover, bore no relation whatever to this walking time; they walked on the employer's premises only because they were compelled to do so by the necessities of the employer's business. In that respect, the walking time differed vitally from the time spent in traveling from workers' homes to the factory. Dollar v. Caddo River Lumber Co., 43 F.Supp. 822; Walling v. Peavy-Wilson Lumber Co., 49 F.Supp. 846. Cf. Commissioner v. Flowers, 326 U. S. 465. It follows that the time spent in walking to work on the employer's premises, after the time clocks were punched, involved
Tennessee Coal Co. v. Muscoda Local, 321 U. S. 590, 321 U. S. 598; Jewell Ridge Coal Corp. v. Local, 325 U. S. 161, 325 U. S. 164-166. Work of that character must be included in the statutory workweek and compensated accordingly, regardless of contrary custom or contract.
We do not, of course, preclude the application of a de minimis rule where the minimum walking time is such as to be negligible. The workweek contemplated by § 7(a) must be computed in light of the realities of the industrial world. When the matter in issue concerns only a few seconds or minutes of work beyond the scheduled working hours, such trifles may be disregarded. Split-second absurdities are not justified by the actualities of working conditions, or by the policy of the Fair Labor Standards Act. It is only when an employee is required to give up a substantial measure of his time and effort that compensable working time is involved. The de minimis rule can doubtless be applied to much of the walking time involved in this case, but the precise scope of that application can be determined only after the trier of facts makes more definite findings as to the amount of walking time in issue.
removing shirts, taping or greasing arms, putting on finger cots, preparing the equipment for productive work, turning on switches for lights and machinery, opening windows, and assembling and sharpening tools. These activities are clearly work falling within the definition enunciated and applied in the Tennessee Coal and Jewell Ridge cases. They involve exertion of a physical nature, controlled or required by the employer and pursued necessarily and primarily for the employer's benefit. They are performed solely on the employer's premises, and are a necessary prerequisite to productive work. There is nothing in such activities that partakes only of the personal convenience or needs of the employees. Hence, they constitute work that must be accorded appropriate compensation under the statute. See Walling v. Frank, 62 F.Supp. 261; Philpott v. Standard Oil Co., 53 F.Supp. 833. Here again, however, it is appropriate to apply a de minimis doctrine so that insubstantial and insignificant periods of time spent in preliminary activities need not be included in the statutory workweek.
Thus, we remand the case for the determination of the amount of walking time involved and the amount of preliminary activities performed, giving due consideration to the de minimis doctrine and calculating the resulting damages under the Act. We have considered the other points raised by the petitioners, but find no errors.
of reliability or accuracy for it to become the basis for recovery of overtime compensation. The employer would have still greater difficulty in keeping an accurate record of the time spent by each employee in such activities. These activities are of such a nature that the knowledge of them and the time spent in doing them rests particularly with the employees themselves. Such activities are of quite a different character from those made the basis of compensable time in the coal mine portal-to-portal cases. Tennessee Coal Co. v. Muscoda Local, 321 U. S. 590; Jewell Ridge Corp. v. Local, 325 U. S. 161.
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