Lead Opinion
Opinion by Judge CALLAHAN;
ORDER AND OPINION
ORDER
The petition for panel rehearing is granted in part and denied in part. The Opinion filed August 21, 2009, and appearing at
The superseding opinion will be filed concurrently with this order.
OPINION
Mike Rutti sought to bring a class action on behalf of all technicians employed by Lojack, Inc. (“Lojack”) to install alarms in customers’ cars. He sought compensation for the time they spent commuting to worksites in Lojack’s vehicles and for time spent on preliminary and postliminary
I.
A. Facts
Rutti was employed by Lojack as one of its over 450 nationwide technicians who install and repair vehicle recovery systems in vehicles. Most, if not all of the installations and repairs are done at the clients’ locations. Rutti was employed to install and repair vehicle recovery systems in Orange County, and required to travel to the job sites in a company-owned vehicle. Rutti was paid by Lojack on an hourly basis for the time period beginning when he arrived at his first job location and ending when he completed his final job installation of the day.
In addition to the time spent commuting, Rutti sought compensation for certain “off-the-clock” activities he performed before he left for the first job in the morning and after he returned home following the completion of the last job. Rutti asserted that Lojack required technicians to be “on call” from 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays. During this time, the technicians were required to keep their mobile phones on and answer requests from dispatch to perform additional jobs, but they were permitted to decline the jobs.
During the day, Rutti recorded information about the installations he performed on a portable data terminal (“PDT”) provided by Lojack. After he returned home in the evening, Rutti was required to upload data about his work to the company. This involved connecting the PDT to a modem, scrolling down a menu on the PDT
B. Procedural History
On April 5, 2006, Rutti filed this putative class action on behalf of himself and similarly-situated technicians asserting that under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-19 (“FLSA”), and under California law, Lojack had unlawfully failed to compensate for commuting and “off-the-clock” work. After the parties had engaged in considerable discovery, Lo-jack moved for partial summary judgment and Rutti sought class certification. The district court decided to rule on the motion for partial summary judgment before addressing class certification, citing Wright v. Schock,
II.
Rutti’s appeal is from a grant of summary judgment and accordingly, we “must determine, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to ... the non-moving party, whether there are any genuine issues of material fact and whether the district court correctly applied the substantive law.” Olsen v. Idaho State Bd. of Medicine,
III.
Rutti’s appeal raises three major issues: (1) whether Rutti’s commute in a Lojack vehicle was compensable under federal or state law; (2) whether Rutti’s off-the-clock activities were either not part of his principal activities for Lojack or were de minim-is, and thus not compensable; and (3) whether under the “continuous workday” doctrine Rutti’s workday started at his home in the morning before he commuted to the first job and extended to his return home.
A. Rutti is not entitled to reimbursement under federal law for commuting
Rutti offers two arguments in support of his claim that he is entitled to compensation for commuting in the vehicle provided by Lojack. First, he asserts, based on a United States Department of Labor letter dated April 3, 1995, that he is entitled to compensation because his use of Lojack’s vehicle to commute was not voluntary, and amounted to a condition of his employment. Rutti’s second argument is that the restrictions Lojack placed on his use of the vehicle rendered the commute compensable. We do not find Rutti’s arguments persuasive.
1. Pursuant to the Employment Commuter Flexibility Act, use of an employer’s vehicle to commute is not compensable even if it is a condition of employment
Rutti’s first argument is that because he is required to commute in the vehicle provided by Lojack, he did not voluntarily agree to the arrangement and is therefore entitled to compensation. This argument is based on a Department of Labor letter dated April 3, 1995, which states that an employee need not be compensated for the time spent commuting when “driving the employer’s vehicle between the employee’s home and customers’ work sites at the beginning and ending of the workday is strictly voluntary and not a condition of employment.” U.S. Dep’t Lab. Op. Ltr. (April 3, 1995). Rutti reads this letter as holding that when the use of employer’s vehicle to commute is not “strictly voluntary” and is a “condition of employment,” then the employee must be compensated for the commute time.
Even assuming that Rutti might have been entitled to compensation for his commute under the April 3, 1995 letter at the time it was written, his claim to compensation does not survive the passage of the Employee Commuter Flexibility Act (“ECFA”), 29 U.S.C. § 254(a)(2). The language of the ECFA and its legislative history compel the conclusion that the requisite “agreement” concerning the use of an employer’s vehicle to commute may be part of the employee’s employment.
In 1996, Congress amended the Portal-to-Portal Act by enacting the ECFA. The statute provides that an employer need not compensate an employee for the following activities:
(1) walking, riding, or traveling to and from the actual place of performance of the principal activity or activities which such employee is employed to perform, and
(2) activities which are preliminary to or postliminary to said principal activity or activities,
which occur either prior to the time on any particular workday at which such employee commences, or subsequent to*1052 the time on any particular workday at which he ceases, such principal activity or activities. For purposes of this subsection, the use of an employer’s vehicle for travel by an employee and activities performed by an employee which are incidental to the use of such vehicle for commuting shall not be considered part of the employee’s principal activities if the use of such vehicle for travel is within the normal commuting area for the employer’s business or establishment and the use of the employer’s vehicle is subject to an agreement on the part of the employer and the employee or representative of such employee.
29 U.S.C. § 254(a)(emphasis added).
The ECFA’s language states that where the use of the vehicle “is subject to an agreement on the part of the employer and the employee,” it is not part of the employee’s principal activities and thus not compensable. Id. There is no suggestion that the agreement cannot be a condition of employment. Indeed, it would appear that the most logical place to record an agreement between an employee and an employer concerning the use of an employer’s vehicle is in the employee’s employment contract. One would expect Congress to specify if it did not intend that the statute have such a likely result. Accordingly, we find the plain meaning of the statute does not support Rutti’s position. See K & N Eng’g, Inc. v. Bulat,
A review of the legislative history confirms the plain language of the ECFA. Both the sponsors and the opponents of ECFA recognized that the requisite agreement could be part of an employee’s conditions of employment. The Report on the bill (H.R.1227) stated that the bill “does not require a written agreement, this requirement may be satisfied through a formal written agreement between the employee and employer, a collective bargaining agreement between the employee’s representatives and the employer, or an understanding based on established industry or company practices.” H.R.Rep. No. 104-585, at 4 (1996). The minority report objected that the bill “permits an employer to compel an employee to agree to use the employer’s vehicle for commuting purposes, as a condition of employment,” and commented that the majority had rejected an amendment that provided that the agreement “must be knowing and voluntary, and may not be required as a condition of employment.” H.R.Rep. No. 104-585 at 8. The author of the bill responded that in some instances an employee’s use of the employer’s vehicle could be a condition of employment “depending on the agreement between the employer and employee or the terms of a collective bargaining agreement.” 142 CONG. REC. 12234 (1996). Thus, the ECFA’s legislative history confirms its plain language: the “agreement” required by ECFA may be a condition of the employee’s employment.
2. The conditions Lojack placed on Rutti’s use of its vehicle did not make his commute compensable.
Rutti’s second argument is that restrictions placed on his use of the vehicle render the commute compensable. The ECFA provides that “activities performed by an employee which are incidental to the use of such vehicle for commuting shall not be considered part of the employee’s principal activities.” 29 U.S.C.
The legislative history shows that Congress recognized that employers would place conditions on their employees’ use of vehicles for commuting. House Report 585 commented that it “is not possible to define in all circumstances what specific tasks and activities would be considered ‘incidental’ to the use of an employers vehicle.” H.R.Rep. No. 104-585 at 5. However, it stated that communications between employer and employee, “routine vehicle safety inspections or other minor tasks, and transportation of tools and supplies, would not change the noncompensable nature of the travel.” Id. The minority report objected that as “non-employee passengers in such vehicles are uniformly prohibited,” an employee may be “effectively prohibited from engaging in the very common and often necessary family task of dropping off his or her child at school on the way to work.” Id. at 13. The failure of the minority report to stimulate any change in the bill indicates that Congress did not object to employers setting conditions on their employees use of company cars for commuting.
Those courts that have addressed this question have held that the cost of commuting is not compensable unless the employees show that they “perform additional legally cognizable work while driving to their workplace.” Adams,
The line between incidental and integral is well-illustrated by two cases from the Federal Circuit. In Bobo v. United States,
Here, Lojack placed fewer restrictions on Rutti’s use of its vehicle than were present in Adams and Bobo. More importantly, Rutti has failed to show that Lo-jack’s restrictions amount to “additional legally cognizable work.” Adams,
B. One of Rutti’s off-the-clock activities may be compensable
Rutti also seeks compensation for activities that he engaged in for Lojack before he travels to his first job site and after he returns home from his last job site of the day. The ECFA, however, in addition to exempting commute time from compensation, also provides that an employer need not compensate an employee for “activities which are preliminary to or postliminary to said principal activity or activities.” 29 U.S.C. § 254(a)(2). Thus, to be entitled to compensation for his off-the-clock activities, Rutti must show that they are related to his “principal activities” for Lojack. In addition, our case law indicates that activity that might otherwise be compensable is not if the time involved is de minimis. Accordingly, we next discuss the applicable case law, first addressing the definitions of
1. Applicable Case Law
a. The definition of “principal activities ”
We first considered the definition of “principal activities” in Lindow v. United States,
The Fifth Circuit adopted a similar broad definition of principal activities in Dunlop v. City Elec., Inc.,
The test, therefore, to determine which activities are “principal” and which are “an integral and indispensable part” of such activities, is not whether the activities in question are uniquely related to the predominant activity of the business, but whether they are performed as part of the regular work of the employees in the ordinary course of business. It is thus irrelevant whether fueling and unloading trucks is “directly related” to the business of electrical wiring; what is important is that such work is necessary to the business and is performed by the employees, primarily for the benefit of the employer, in the ordinary course of that business. We find that the pre8:00 a.m. activities performed by the electricians and their helpers were within the broad range of “principal activities” performed at their employer’s behest and for the benefit of the business; as such they were compensable activities for which the employees would ordinarily have been paid had such work been performed during the normal workday.
Id. at 400^401 (footnote omitted).
In Owens v. Local No. 169, Ass’n ofW. Pulp & Paper Workers,
Thus, Lindow requires that we give “principal activities” a liberal construction “no matter when the work is performed,”
b. The definition ofde minimis
Our opinion in Lindow also applied the de minimis rule to claims of overtime compensation.
When the matter in issue concerns only a few seconds or minutes of work beyond the scheduled working hours, such trifles may be disregarded. Split-second absurdities are not justified by the actualities of working conditions or by the policy of the Fair Labor Standards Act. It is only when an employee is required to give up a substantial measure of his time and effort that compensable working time is involved.
Lindow,
In Lindow, we concluded that even though some of the employees’ activities were principal activities, the district court properly determined that “the 7 to 8 minutes spent by employees reading the log book and exchanging information, even if not preliminary, was de minimis and therefore not compensable.” Id. at 1062.
The panel carefully explained its reasoning. An important factor in determining whether a claim is de minimis is the amount of time spent on the additional work. The panel specifically stated that: “[tjhere is no precise amount of time that may be denied compensation as de minim-is. No rigid rule can be applied with mathematical certainty.” Id. at 1062. Nonetheless, the panel noted that most courts “have found daily periods of approximately 10 minutes de minimis even though otherwise compensable.” Id. The panel then qualified this statement, ex
in determining whether otherwise compensable time is de minimis, we will consider (1) the practical administrative difficulty of recording the additional time; (2) the aggregate amount of compensable time; and (3) the regularity of the additional work.
Id. at 1063.
Thus, in determining whether an otherwise compensable activity is de minimis, we apply the three-prong test set forth in Lindow. In doing so, we recognize that the test reflects a balance between requiring an employer to pay for activities it requires of its employees and the need to avoid “split-second absurdities” that “are not justified by the actuality of the working conditions.” Lindow,
2. Applying the applicable law to Rut-ti’s off-the clock activities
Rutti’s off-the-clock activities may be divided between those that take place before he leaves home, i.e. his preliminary activities, and those that take place after he returns home, i.e. his postliminary activities.
a. Preliminary Activities
Rutti’s morning activities do not appear to be integral to his principal activities. Most of his activities — “receiving, mapping, and prioritizing jobs and routes for assignment”- — -are related to his commute. Under the FLSA, commuting is presumptively noncompensable, and is clearly distinct from Rutti’s principal activities for Lojack. Although there are some indications that Rutti also filled out some forms for his jobs at home, it is not clear that the paperwork could not be performed after Rutti reached the job site, or that Lojack required the forms to be filled out before Rutti reached the job site.
In any event, these preliminary activities, to the extent that they are both distinct from his commute (which is not compensable) and related to his principal activities, appear to be de minimis, and
b. Postliminary Activities
Lojack requires that Rutti, after he completes his last job for the day and goes “off-the-clock,” return home and send a PDT transmission to Lojack using a modem provided by Lojack. The transmissions have to be made every day as they provide Lojack with information concerning all the jobs its technicians perform during the day. The transmissions appear to be “part of the regular work of the employees in the ordinary course of business,” and are “necessary to the business and [are] performed by the employees, primarily for the benefit of the employer, in the ordinary course of that business.” Dunlop,
Lojack might still be entitled to summary judgment, if it could be determined that this postliminary activity was clearly de minimis. The evidence before the district court, however, does not compel such a conclusion. The fact that several technicians testified that they spent no more than five to ten minutes a night on PDT transmissions might appear to give rise to a presumption that an activity is de minimis, see Lindow,
It is not factually compelling because, although it may take only five to ten minutes to initiate and send the PDT transmission, the record shows that the employee is required to come back and check to see that the transmission was successful, and if not, send it again. There is also evidence in the record that there are frequent transmission failures. Accordingly, the record does not compel a finding that the daily transmission of the record of the day’s jobs takes less than ten minutes.
Furthermore, we have not adopted a ten or fifteen minute de minimis rule. Although we noted in Lindow, that “most courts have found daily periods of approximately 10 minutes de minimis even though otherwise compensable,” we went on to hold that “[t]here is no precise amount of time that may be denied compensation as de minimis ” and that “[n]o rigid rule can be applied with mathematical certainty.”
The application of this three-prong test to the facts in this case do not compel a conclusion that the PDT transmissions are de minimis. The first prong, “the practical administrative difficulty of recording the additional time,” id. at 1063, is closely balanced in this case. Certainly, it is difficult to determine exactly how much time each technician spends daily on the PDT transmissions. It is also not clear what
The other two prongs, “the aggregate amount of compensable time,” and “the regularity of the additional work,” Lindow,
Our review of the record suggests that the PDT transmissions are an integral part of Rutti’s principal activities and that there are material issues of fact as to whether the PDT transmissions are de minimis. Accordingly, the grant of summary judgment in favor of Lojack on Rut-ti’s claim for the transmissions must be vacated. See Balint v. Carson City, Nev.,
C. Rutti’s off-the-clock activities do not extend his workday under the continuous workday doctrine.
Finally, Rutti argues that under the continuous workday doctrine,
Even were we to adopt the continuous workday doctrine set forth in Dooley, Rut-ti would not be entitled to compensation for his travel time to and from the job sites. We have already determined that Rutti’s preliminary activities that are not related to his commute are either not principal activities or are de minimis. Accordingly, his situation is not analogous to the situation in Dooley. See
Our determination that Rutti’s postliminary activity, the PDT transmission, is integrally related to Rutti’s principal activities might support the extension of his work day through his travel back to his residence, were it not for 29 C.F.R. § 785.16. This regulation provides that “[pjeriods during which an employee is completely relieved from duty and which are long enough to enable him to use the time effectively for his own purposes are not hours worked.”
IV.
We substantially agree with the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Lojack on Rutti’s claims for overtime compensation. We agree that Rutti is not entitled to compensation under federal law for his commute to and from his job sites in a vehicle provided by Lojack. We agree that Rutti is not entitled to compensation for his preliminary activities as those activities are either not principal activities, or if principal activities, are de minimis. However, we vacate the district court’s grant of summary judgment on Rutti’s claim for compensation for the PDT transmissions because it appears that this function is integral to Rutti’s principal activities for Lojack and the record does not compel a determination that the time consumed by this function is de minimis.
We also agree with the district court that Rutti is not entitled to compensation for his commute time under the continuous workday doctrine because, as noted, his preliminary activities are either not principal activities or are de minimis. In addition, accepting that the postliminary PDT transmission is a principal activity, the fact that Rutti is not required to make the transmission at any specific time means that he may use the intervening time for his own purposes, and accordingly pursuant to 29 C.F.R. § 785.16, Lojack need not compensate him for the intervening time.
The district court’s grant of summary judgment is affirmed except as to Rutti’s claims for compensation for commuting under state law and for the required postliminary PDT transmission, which are vacated. This matter is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. Each party to bear its own costs.
AFFIRMED in part, VACATED in part, and REMANDED.
Separate Opinion by Judge SILVERMAN.
Compensation for Commute Time under California Law
Rutti contends that even if his commute is not compensable under the federal Employment Commuter Flexibility Act, it is nevertheless compensable under California law. California law requires that employees be compensated for all time “during which an employee is subject to the control of an employer.” Morillion v. Royal Packing Co.,
The dissent attempts to distinguish Morillion by summarily concluding that “Rutti’s use of Lojack’s automobile to commute to and from his job sites is more analogous to the ‘home to departure points’ transportation in Morillion than to the employees’ transportation on the employer’s buses.” Aside from the lack of factual analysis to support this ipse dixit, the dissent also utterly ignores the relevant question under California law, which is whether Rutti was “subject to the control of an employer” during his mandatory travel time. A straightforward application of Morillion easily answers that question in the affirmative. Rutti was required not only to drive the Lojack vehicle to and from the job site, but was forbidden from attending to any personal business along the way. Because he was obviously under the employer’s control in these circumstances he was, under California law, entitled to be paid.
The dissent makes the mistake of assuming that any employer-mandated travel that begins or ends at home is automatically noncompensable, but that assumption again ignores the controlling legal principle. Under California law it is the “level of the employer’s control over its employees” that “is determinative,” not whether the employee just so happens to depart from, or return to, his home instead of some other location. Id. at 587,
Notes
. Judge Silverman joins in this opinion and Judge Hall joins in this opinion except as to Rutti's claim for compensation for the required postliminary PDT transmissions. Judge Silverman has authored a separate opinion concerning Rutti’s claim for compensation under California law for commuting, which Judge Hall joins, and to which Judge Callahan has filed a dissent.
. Although not in the dictionary, this word is used in the critical statute, 29 U.S.C. § 254(a)(2). The statute provides that an employer need not pay for:
activities which are preliminary to or postliminary to said principal activity or activities, which occur either prior to the time on any particular workday at which such employee commences, or subsequent to the time on any particular workday at which he ceases, such principal activity or activities.*1049 There is some inherent ambiguity in this definition. On the one hand, these terms refer to the timing of the activity as either before or after the employee’s primary job functions. On the other hand, the terms appear to be used to distinguish off-the-clock activities for which an employee is not entitled to compensation from "principal activities” for which an employee is entitled to compensation. In this opinion, the terms are used primarily to refer to the timing of the activities in issue.
. During Rutti’s six years with Lojack, he only received two calls for additional jobs while “on-call.” Rutti accepted one job and declined the other.
. In the district court, Rutti also sought compensation for time spent washing his work clothes, washing and maintaining the company car, driving to the United Parcel Service, organizing supplies, purchasing and maintaining his work tools, and commuting to and waiting for meetings. The district court held that Rutti was not entitled to compensation for any of these activities and Rutti has not challenged those rulings on appeal.
. Before the district court, Rutti also sought compensation for time spent “on-call.” Rutti did not adequately brief this court on this claim however, referring to on-call compensation only in a letter filed pursuant to Rule 28(j), after briefing was completed. This is insufficient to preserve his claim and we consider it waived. See Miller v. Fairchild Indus., Inc., 797 F.2d 727, 738 (9th Cir.1986); Fed. R.App. P. 29(a)(9).
. Rutti also challenges on appeal the district court's denial of his request for $500 in reimbursement for expenses incurred in repairing damage to the company vehicle caused by his failure to maintain the vehicle. California law provides that an employee who violates his duty to use reasonable care, skill and diligence is liable for losses which his employer sustains as a result of his negligence or breach of duty. See Cecka v. Beckman & Co.,
. Although the Federal Circuit in Adams and Bobo concluded that the restrictions there at issue did not pass the de minimis threshold {Adams,
. The Fifth Circuit, however, remanded the case "for further determination whether all these activities combined still resulted in so slight an expenditure of the employees’ time as to be de minimis and therefore not compensable." Id. at 401.
. In Anderson, the Supreme Court first noted that “the time spent in walking to work on the employer's premises, after the time clocks were punched, involved physical or mental exertion (whether burdensome or not) controlled or required by the employer and pursued necessarily and primarily for the benefit of the employer and his business.”
. In Anderson, the Supreme Court indicated that an employee was entitled to compensation for principal activities unless the employer met its burden of showing that the time consumed by the activity was truly de minim-is.
The master ... denied recovery solely because the amount of time taken up by the activities and the proportion of it spent in advance of the established starting time had not been proved by the employees with any degree of reliability or accuracy. But, as previously noted, the employees cannot be barred from their statutory rights on such a basis. Unless the employer can provide accurate estimates, it is the duty of the trier of facts to draw whatever reasonable inferences can be drawn from the employees' evidence as to the amount of time spent in these activities in excess of the productive working time.
. The panel noted that the "plaintiffs spent an average of 7 to 8 minutes a day reading the log book and exchanging information.”
. See IBP, Inc. v. Alvarez,
. The court explained: "Appraisers are required, as part of their job duties, to check their email and voice mail, to prepare their computers for use, and to return telephone calls. These tasks are 'part of the regular work of the employees.’ ” Dooley, 307 F.Supp.2d. at 242 (citing Dunlop,
. The court reasoned:
The Portal-to-Portal Act applies only to those activities that occur "either prior to the time on any particular workday at which such employee commences, or subsequent to the time on any particular workday at which he ceases, such principal activity or activities.” 29 U.S.C. § 254(a). I concluded, above, that the plaintiffs’ alleged activities at home constitute principal activities. Because the plaintiffs’ drive to the first appraisal site does not occur "prior to the time [the] employee commences [his or her] principal activity or activities,” the drive is outside the ambit of the Portal-to-Portal Act. The default rule of the FLSA— that the plaintiffs must be paid — applies. See 29 C.F.R. § 790.6(a).
Dooley,
.Subsection (a) of 29 C.F.R. § 785.16 states:
Periods during which an employee is completely relieved from duty and which are long enough to enable him to use the time effectively for his own purposes are not hours worked. He is not completely relieved from duty and cannot use the time effectively for his own purposes unless he is definitely told in advance that he may leave the job and that he will not have to commence work until a definitely specified hour has arrived. Whether the time is long enough to enable him to use the time effectively for his own purposes depends upon all of the facts and circumstances of the case.
. Judge Hall joins in this opinion. Judge Callahan dissents.
. The additional cases cited by the dissent do nothing to advance its conclusion. In Overton v. Walt Disney Co.,
Concurrence Opinion
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I join in Judge Callahan’s opinion except as to Rutti’s claim for compensation for the required postliminary PDT transmission, which I would affirm. I believe the time spent engaging in PDT transmissions was de minimis. I also join in Judge Silverman’s separate opinion on compensation for commuting under California Law.
There is no dispute regarding the process required for transmission: the task involved connecting the PDT to a modem, scrolling down a menu on the PDT screen, and selecting the “transmit” option to initi
Also undisputed is the fact that LoJack clearly established policies for technicians to follow in the event of transmission difficulties. Technicians were required to notify LoJack of errors, were provided technical support, and were instructed on how to set their PDT to automatically transmit overnight. Rutti followed none of these procedures. He did acknowledge, however, that if he waited until 10 p.m., he had no difficulty transmitting the data.
While the majority is correct that Lindow did not establish a per se rule that ten minutes or less is de minimis, the majority overlooks the facts of that case. In Lindow, the court acknowledged that the range of time spent in the activity was five to fifteen minutes, with an average time of seven to eight minutes, yet found that time to be de minimis. Lindoiv v. United States,
Those cases, like the district court here, rely heavily on the administrative difficulty involved in recording the time spent. While acknowledging this difficulty, the majority points to the example of one technician who testified he was paid for his PDT transmissions at the rate of fifteen minutes per day, implying that LoJack could simply “extend” that practice to all technicians. That technician, however, admitted that the transmission only took him one to two minutes daily, but that LoJack paid only in fifteen minute increments, so he rounded up. The technician also admitted that he knew company policy required him to clock out from work each day at 5 p.m., whereas the fifteen minutes he recorded were after 5 p.m. The record does not indicate that LoJack approved, or even was aware of, this technician’s practice.
The majority is correct to note that the technicians must also check back to see that the data was uploaded successfully, but this requires only a few seconds to do. Rutti testified at his deposition that he would spend the time when the data was transmitting watching television or making a sandwich. And if he set-up the PDT transmission to occur automatically overnight, as LoJack allowed, the transmission time could be spent sleeping. This hardly satisfies the “engaged to wait” standard to be compensable as required by Owens v. Local No. 169, Ass’n of W. Pulp & Paper Workers,
Finally, as Rutti argues, the PDT transmission took longer than a couple of minutes only when the transmission required multiple attempts to be successful. Even allowing for the possibility of multiple transmission attempts, each new attempt would add only a few seconds of time to click “transmit” again, and the employees’ time between transmission attempts and during actual uploading would be spent on personal activities. As noted above, however, LoJack established procedures for technicians to follow if they experienced technical difficulties, and required them to report any such failures. Rutti admits he never followed procedure to notify LoJack of his difficulties, nor did he set up his PDT transmission to occur automatically. LoJack only required its employees to perform a transmission it believed to be de minimis. If properly performed, as the vast majority of purported class members testified, the total transmission would likely require under five minutes. In Forrester v. Roth’s IGA Foodliner,
Thus, even if the transmission is construed to be a principal activity, it is still not compensable because it is de minimis. And even if the transmission were not de minimis, LoJack is still entitled to summary judgment if Rutti failed to inform LoJack of the time he spent on the transmissions beyond a de minimis time. I conclude that this is precisely the type of activity the Portal-to-Portal Act and the de minimis rule were designed to reach. I respectfully dissent from that portion of the opinion which concludes otherwise.
. The majority cites heavily from the Anderson opinion to support its policy discussion of compensable time and its interpretation of the scope of the de minimis rule. See Opinion at 1056-57 n. 9 & 10. I separately object to this reliance. Congress overruled the Anderson decision by passing the Portal-to-Portal Act, which modified the FLSA, less than one year after the decision was reached in order to vitiate the very reasoning on which the majority now relies. See Carter v. Panama Canal Co.,
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting from Judge Silverman’s opinion on compensation for commuting under state law:
Rutti contends that even if his commute is not compensable under ECFA, it is compensable under California law pursuant to Morillion v. Royal Packing Co.,
The “control of the employer” standard set forth in Morillion may be more favorable to employees than federal law, but it does not cover Rutti’s commute. In Morillion, the employer required the employ
My review of subsequent cases construing California law fails to reveal any case extending Morillion to cover Rutti’ situation. In Overton v. Walt Disney Co.,
Accordingly, I dissent from Judge Silverman’s opinion and would hold that the district court properly held that Rutti is not entitled to compensation for the time spent commuting to and from his job sites in a vehicle provided by Lojack under either 29 U.S.C. § 254(a)(2) or California law.
. I note that in Morillion, the California Supreme Court stated: "we emphasize that employers do not risk paying employees for their travel time merely by providing them transportation."
. " 'Ridesharing' means two or more persons traveling by any mode, including, but not limited to, carpooling, vanpooling, buspooling, taxipooling, jitney, and public transit.” Cal. Veh.Code § 522. If the provision of a vehicle by the employer for commuting does not constitute part of a day's work when the employee has to share the vehicle with other employees, it follows that it should not constitute part of a day's work when the employee’s use of the employer-provided vehicle is freed of such a limitation.