When the U.S. Supreme Court rules on an issue in a 9-0 fashion — with a decision penned by Justice Thomas, no less — you can fairly conclude that the issue is not all that difficult.

Indeed, the SCOTUSBlog summed up the employment law decision today pretty succinctly:

Workers who are required to stay after their normal hours on the job to undergo a security screening are not entitled to overtime pay while they wait for that process and then go through it, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Tuesday.

The case of Integrity Staffing Solutions v. Busk involved screenings of employees at Amazon.com warehouses after their shifts concluded.

The screenings, which could take up to 25 minutes, were deemed by the court to not be “integral” to the employee’s job.  Those screenings could have been eliminated and it would have had no impact on the employee’s ability to do the job itself.

Contrast that with the “Donning and Doffing” case of earlier this year, where the putting on of personal protective equipment could be seen as necessary for employees to do their jobs (but that some clothes might not be.)

In Connecticut, the decision should have minimal impact.

The Second Circuit has been pretty consistent in its reading (essentially in concurrence with the Supreme Court’s conclusion) and even the U.S. Department of Labor had said that the employee’s arguments were contrary to the established reading of the law.

It’s not very different that the employees who are required take shuttle buses to parking lots after their shift. That is not compensable either.

Nevertheless, if you are an employer that requires your employees to come into work early or stay after and go through some type of screening or process, this is definitely a decision to review to make sure your practice falls within the applicable state and federal laws.