Companies could be on the hook for work-related activities before and
after shifts start, court rules
[March 20, 2026]
By Jenna Schweikert and UIS Public Affairs Reporting (PAR)
SPRINGFIELD — Illinois law does not specifically shield companies from
having to pay employees for time spent completing required pre- and
post-work activities, the state Supreme Court unanimously ruled.
Although federal regulations exclude that requirement, the court found
Illinois’ wage law does not include any similar provisions. That means
employers could be required to compensate employees for required
activities outside of the normal work day.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit asked the state’s high
court to decide if state law includes the federal regulation found in
the Fair Labor Standards Act. The question originates from a civil suit
brought against Amazon by two former employees, although the court’s
ruling is not an official ruling in that case.
In the opinion, Justice David Overstreet wrote that the court’s goal was
to determine the legislature’s intent at the time Illinois’ 1971 Minimum
Wage law was enacted, emphasizing that the court aimed to adhere to the
plain language of the law.
“We must refrain from departing from the statute’s plain language by
reading into it exceptions, limitations, or conditions that conflict
with the express language of the statute,” Overstreet wrote.
Justice Overstreet delivered the court’s opinion, with Chief Justice P.
Scott Neville and Justices Lisa Holder White, Joy Cunningham, Elizabeth
Rochford, and Mary O’Brien concurring. Justice Sanjay Tailor did not
take part in the decision.
Johnson v. Amazon
In 2020, Amazon required its employees to complete 10-15-minute
pre-shift health screenings to avoid transmission of COVID-19. Two
employees, Lisa Johnson and Gale Miller Anderson, later sued the company
in the Cook County circuit court, arguing they should have been
compensated for that time under federal and state law.
Amazon requested the case be moved to federal court in the U.S. District
Court for the Northern District of Illinois and moved to dismiss the
case, arguing they were not required to pay Johnson and Anderson based
on federal exemptions for preliminary work activities in the Fair Labor
Standards Act.
The federal court approved the dismissal under federal and state
statutes, finding that federal law had frequently been used to interpret
Illinois’ Minimum Wage Law.
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The Illinois Supreme Court is pictured in Springfield. (Capitol News
Illinois file photo)
Johnson and Anderson appealed, this time arguing they were entitled to
compensation only under state law, which does not include those federal
exemptions. Amazon, in reply, said federal law supported the district
court’s conclusion that the exclusions apply to state law.
The Seventh Circuit asked the Illinois Supreme Court to settle the
question, who then found that Amazon could not rely on federal
regulations to inform Illinois’ minimum wage law because the General
Assembly chose not to include the specific exclusions on preliminary
activities.
A plain reading of the law “reveals that the General Assembly did not
signify any intention to incorporate the preliminary and postliminary
activities exclusions,” Overstreet wrote, referencing a subsection of
the wage law that includes a list of exceptions.
“Notably, four of these exceptions incorporate by reference specific
provisions of the FLSA, regulations of the United States Department of
Labor (USDOL), or both,” Overstreet wrote.
“The General Assembly delegated the authority to define ‘hours worked’
to IDOL (the Illinois Department of Labor). In turn IDOL adopted a
definition of ‘hours worked’ that necessarily includes preliminary and
postliminary activities, explicitly encompassing all time that an
employee is required to be on an employer’s premises.”
The case will now return to the Seventh Circuit court. Pending that
decision, or any action by the legislature, Illinois employers may soon
have to compensate employees for that extra time spent preparing for a
shift.
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