First published decision under Chief Justice Roberts, unanimous Scotus rules that time Tyson meat packing workers take to walk to their work stations after putting on uniforms and safety equipment will count against the 40 hour workweek of the Fair Labor Standards Act, however waiting for uniforms while in the locker room will not count IBP, INC. V. ALVAREZ (03-1238) The issue for the Tyson case and its companion case Barber v Tum Foods was whether the time employees spend walking between the changing area and the production area is compensable under the FLSA. The second question, which is presented only in No. 04—66 (Barber v Tum Foods), is whether the time employees spend waiting to put on the protective gear is compensable under the statute. . Scotus Justice Stevens holds as to time between putting on equipment until reaching workstations counts as work time because any activity that is “integral and indispensable” to a “principal activity” is itself a “principal activity” under §4(a) of the Portal-to-Portal Act. Moreover, during a continuous workday, any walking time that occurs after the beginning of the employee’s first principal activity and before the end of the employee’s last principal activity is excluded from the scope of that provision, and as a result is covered by the FLSA ..However as to waiting in line to get equipment to put on, time will not count: "The time spent waiting to don–time that elapses before the principal activity of donning integral and indispensable gear–presents the quite different question whether it should have the effect of advancing the time when the workday begins...unlike the donning of certain types of protective gear, which is always essential if the worker is to do his job, the waiting may or may not be necessary in particular situations or for every employee. It is certainly not “integral and indispensable” in the same sense that the donning is. It does, however, always comfortably qualify as a “preliminary” activity. Because Congress with the "portal to portal" act amendment to FLSA had emphatically stated walking time would not count {legislatively overruling Anderson v. Mt. Clemens Pottery Co., 328 U.S. 680 1946,}, the Supreme court will not consider the preliminary waiting time to put on uniforms