Frlekin v. Apple Inc., 2020 WL 727813 (Cal. S. Ct. 2020)
In this opinion, the California Supreme Court answered a
question certified to it by the United States Court of Appeals for
the Ninth Circuit: "Is time spent on the employer's
premises waiting for, and undergoing, required exit searches of
packages, bags, or personal technology devices voluntarily brought
to work purely for personal convenience by employees compensable as
'hours worked' within the meaning of Wage Order 7?"
The California Supreme Court answered the question "Yes."
Putative class member employees estimated the searches took between
five and 20 minutes regularly, and up to 45 minutes when stores
were busy. The Supreme Court determined that time spent during bag
or security checks was time that was subject to the employer's
control because: (1) Apple made employees find and flag down a
security guard to conduct the search and confined employees to the
premises during the search; and (2) although
