Donning, Doffing and the Portal-to-Portal Act (2026 Pay Rules)

Why This Rule Exists

In 1947 Congress passed the Portal-to-Portal Act to stop claims for ordinary commuting and incidental walking time. It carved out preliminary and postliminary activities from paid time. Then the courts spent seventy years defining the exception to the exception: activities that are integral and indispensable to your principal work stay paid.

That phrase is the whole ballgame.

Integral and Indispensable

An activity is compensable if it is both:

• Integral — an intrinsic part of the job, not a convenience.
• Indispensable — you cannot perform the principal work without it.

Examples that are paid:

• A meatpacking worker donning sanitary gear and chain mail.
• A chemical plant worker putting on protective suits required by regulation.
• A firefighter checking and mounting turnout gear.
• A production worker sanitizing and setting up a line before the shift.

Examples that are usually not paid:

• Changing into a generic uniform that could be put on at home.
• Commuting, even in a company vehicle under the Employee Commuting Flexibility Act.
• Walking from the parking lot to the building.

The Computer Boot-Up Question

Call center and support employees have brought a wave of claims over unpaid minutes spent booting machines and loading phone software before the first call. Several courts have held that where the software is required to perform the job at all, boot-up is integral and indispensable, and therefore paid.

Five minutes a day is 21 hours a year. For someone already scheduled at 40 hours, most of that is overtime, not straight time.

The Continuous Workday Rule

Once your first principal activity begins, the workday has started. Everything until your last principal activity ends is generally compensable, including walking between stations and short waits. This is why paid donning time matters twice: it starts the clock, so the walk from the locker room to the line becomes paid too.

What to Do About It

Employees: time yourself for two weeks. Note gear required by the employer or by regulation, and any system you must launch before you can start. Total the minutes with the work hours calculator.

Employers: if a task is required before the shift, put a punch in front of it. Retrofitting a defense is far more expensive than paying five minutes.

Related Guides in This Cluster

• Hub: Overtime Compliance in Plain Language
• Time Clock Rounding and De Minimis Rules
• Engaged to Wait vs Waiting to Be Engaged
• What Is a Workweek Under the FLSA?

Frequently Asked Questions

Is time spent putting on required safety gear paid?

Yes, when the gear is integral and indispensable to the job, such as protective equipment required by law or by the nature of the work.

Is my commute ever paid?

Ordinary home-to-work commuting is not compensable, even in a company vehicle. Travel between job sites during the workday is.

Do I get paid for booting up my computer?

If you cannot perform your job without launching the systems, courts increasingly treat boot-up time as compensable work time.

What is the continuous workday rule?

Once your first principal activity starts, the entire period until your last principal activity ends is generally paid, minus bona fide meal periods.