Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 12/12/13

Smithfield Packing Company has agreed to pay $2 million to settle three class-action lawsuits filed four years ago by workers seeking compensation for time spent performing pre- and post-shift activities like donning and doffing protective gear, according to court documents filed this week in U.S. district court in eastern North Carolina.

The suit was filed in March 2009 by former hourly line workers who worked at Smithfield Packing’s pork processing plant in Kinston, N.C., at any time since March 19, 2006, and alleged that the company failed to pay them “for all time worked.” Smithfield rather paid according to “line time,” making compensable only that work done on the line when it started until work on the line ended.

Courts have decided for and against meat packers amid an ongoing debate about what constitutes compensable work.

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