On February 14, 2025, the NAM filed an amicus brief urging the Maryland Supreme Court to hold that the de minimis doctrine applies to claims asserted under Maryland’s wage and hour laws. The de minimis doctrine is a defense under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act for the administrative difficulty in recording small amounts of time for payroll purposes that an employee spends performing tasks off the clock. Federal courts hold that employers may disregard time as de minimis depending on certain factors. In this case, a former employee at an Amazon fulfillment center in Maryland filed a class action in the District of Maryland for back pay under Maryland’s wage and hour law. The plaintiff alleges that the time hourly employees spend during security screenings as they leave Amazon fulfillment centers is compensable under those laws. The District of Maryland requested that the Maryland Supreme Court address whether the time is compensable.
Our brief underscores the significant burden posed by a requirement that all Maryland employers—regardless of size, sophistication or resources—record and compensate employees for any work-adjacent activity, down to the millisecond. Accepting the plaintiff’s view that the de minimis exception is inapplicable would open a floodgate of class and collective action litigation against all employers in Maryland regarding when compensable work begins and ends.