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When Perdue Farms in 2002 settled with the Department of Labor (DOL) on back-paying its workers for the time spent donning and doffing required personal protective equipment (PPE), Tyson didn't read the tea leaves and refused to pay its workers for donning-doffing time.
The piper came calling this week as Tyson was forced into a settlement similar to Perdue Farms' agreement--to the tune of $32 million.
When Perdue settled for $10,000, Tyson noted in a statement:
Donning and doffing, as referred to in the lawsuit, is nothing more than putting on clothing, which in our plants typically includes a hairnet, earplugs and a white lab coat. To put this in perspective, ‘donning and doffing’ is something most of us do every day, whether we’re construction workers putting on hardhats and gloves or office workers putting on business attire."
Tyson was hoping to get a favorable ruling by the Supreme Court, but the court sided with the workers in 2005, so Tyson is now on the hook for back-paying some 17,000 workers.
Employers, do not place yourselves in a similar position. Get a copy today of Personnel Concepts' PPE Compliance Kit and keep away from regulatory and legal trouble.
To avoid costly legal settlements like Tyson’s, employers must ensure they are fully compliant with PPE regulations. One essential step is providing PPE training for employees, which ensures workers understand how to properly don and doff protective equipment. Such training not only helps prevent safety violations but also safeguards against potential lawsuits related to unaccounted work time, such as donning and doffing.
