FLSA _ At home safety checks

leadvisor

Law enforcement officers are trained to run a test arch on their Taser (at home) before each shift. This test takes a couple seconds and is similar to examining duty weapons for safety prior to holstering them. Recently, an officer ran the arch and hit himself in the hand, at home five minutes before his shift started, which resulted in an injury requiring surgery. Workers' Compensation has determined the injury is work related based on training slides (supporting the at home safety check). We use time clocks. He was not on the clock. My question is :are we violating FLSA by having officers run routine safety checks on equipment prior to clocking in? The officers drive to work in full uniform and in their patrol vehicles.

Still Need Coffee

I'm guessing your officers are non-exempt? Since the weapons check is something they are required to do as part of their job, my guess is that it would be compensable, similar to the donning/doffing regulations, but I would probably need more info to help you further.

ACU Frank

Compensable or not... I wanna see it on Youtube!

ACU Frank

There is so much conflicting case law on this, specifically for law enforcement officers. In some cases, donning and doffing at the worksite has been ruled compensable, while D/D at home is not. Other cases make them both compensable. Some cases make it compensable for protective equipment (like vests), but not for uniforms. Other cases cite both de minimus exemptions and the gap time rule under FLSA's 7k exemption. The Taser is probably not considered protective equipment, unlike a vest. But it would probably be akin to the department-issued sidearm... Is there a comparable situation in your department involving the cleaning of firearms, for example? And, for the purposes of this question, should we assume there is no CBA?

sonny

A police department without a CBA. . that would be nice!!
I would check with your labor attorney. . my initial gut is that it's compensable but agree with Frank, this is a tricky area