Claims for Overtime Compensation for Time Required To Change to Uniforms

Five employees claimed overtime compensation for the time required to change from usual attire to an appropriate uniform and out of uniform at the close of a work shift. The employees contended that the agency did not afford time to complete their clothes change so they had to report 10 minutes earlier than the shift actually began and remain 10 minutes after it ended. The hospital director reported that the employees are allowed a reasonable amount of time (normally no more than 10 minutes) to change clothes and that the claimants were not required to dress on their own time. When the record contains a disupte of fact which cannot be resolved without an adversary proceeding, it is the practice to resolve the matter in favor of the government.