Do you have to pay hourly workers for preliminary or postliminary activities?

It depends where you are. Under federal law, the Portal-to-Portal Act, which is part of the Fair Labor Standards Act, payment is only required for hours worked. But some state’s wage and hour laws don’t necessarily follow the federal rule. A Nevada court ruled that employees should be paid for the time needed for COVID testing before they could begin work. Similar cases are pending in Connecticut and Illinois. Check the rules in your state if you require employees to go through lengthy security checks or to change clothes before work; the activities may be compensable. #IdeaoftheDay