This case arose out of a class-action suit for unpaid wages brought by employees at an Amazon warehouse. The employees claimed they were entitled to compensation under the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act (“PMWA”) for their unpaid time spent in a security screening process. After Amazon removed the case to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the suit was consolidated by the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation in the Western District of Kentucky with other similar class actions brought in other states under those states’ minimum wage laws. In this opinion, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court answered two certified questions from the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. The Court held that 1) that time spent on an employer’s premises waiting to undergo, and undergoing, mandatory security screening constitutes “hours worked” under the PMWA; and 2) there exists no de minimis exception to the PMWA.
