Dive Brief:
- The Wisconsin Supreme Court has ordered Hormel to pay back wages to hundreds of workers employed at its Beloit, WI, plant for the time workers spent putting on and removing required clothing and equipment.
- Because the clothing and equipment were necessary for safety and sanitation compliance in the workplace, those tasks were a requirement for workers' jobs and therefore the workers should be compensated, the court said.
- The decision upheld a 2014 ruling by a Rock County judge that awarded 330 Hormel workers nearly $200,000 in back wages.
Dive Insight:
This decision could impact other manufacturers with similar factory and wage policies, but it's unlikely Hormel's case will set a precedent. These types of lawsuits aren't new to the food industry, as Kraft was ordered to pay $4 million in back wages to workers for time spent donning uniforms in 2011.
Tyson has been tied up in a similar dispute for years, and in August, the company won its appeal to reverse nearly $24 million in damages that would have been awarded to workers in Nebraska for pre- and post-shift tasks. The courts still haven't finalized an answer to these cases that would be sufficient across the board.
Hormel also had the issue of food safety working against it in this case at a time when food safety concerns run especially high. Had the uniforms not been an integral part of sanitation and safety in the factory, Hormel may have seen a different outcome.