Johnson v. Amazon.com: Illinois Breaks With Federal Law On Compensability Before And After Employees' Principal Activities At The Workplace

On March 19, 2026, the Illinois Supreme Court issued a decision in Johnson v. Amazon.com Services, LLC, that divides Illinois and federal minimum wage and overtime law on how to handle compensation for certain activities before and after an employee performs their normal work duties. The Court held that the Illinois Minimum Wage Law (IMWL) does not incorporate the federal Portal-to-Portal Act (PPA), which states that the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not require that employers compensate their employees for activities that are preliminary or postliminary to their principal work activities.

In light of Johnson, Illinois employers should carefully review what they require employees to do before and after they clock in for work. Activities that have been non-compensable for decades under federal law now may need to be compensated under Illinois's minimum wage and overtime laws.

Federal Law and the Portal-to-Portal Act

The FLSA, which sets forth federal minimum wage and overtime requirements, was passed in 1938. Nine years later, after certain broad rulings on the FLSA's scope provoked a flood of litigation, Congress passed the PPA, which limited the application of the FLSA including that the FLSA's minimum wage and overtime laws do not apply to:

(1) walking, riding, or traveling to and from the actual place of performance of the principal activity or activities which such employee is employed to perform, and

(2) activities which are preliminary to or postliminary to said principal activity or activities.

In the more than 75 years since the PPA was passed, regulations and courts have further defined what is and is not compensable under the FLSA and PPA. For instance, non-compensable preliminary or postliminary activities have included security screenings, checking in or waiting in line to do so, and changing clothes or washing up (when not integral and indispensable to the employee's principal activities). In contrast, activities found to be compensable have included putting on personal protective equipment and preparing critical tools or machines for use.

The Illinois Minimum Wage Law and the Johnson Decision

The IMWL, passed in 1971, is Illinois's state-law counterpart to the FLSA. Like the FLSA, it sets minimum wage and overtime laws for employees in Illinois. In many ways, the IMWL's language is patterned after the FLSA, and it incorporates many specific provisions of the FLSA by reference. Indeed, the Illinois Department of Labor's (IDOL's) regulations state that it may refer to the FLSA's regulations and interpretations for guidance in interpreting the IMWL and its regulations. The IMWL regulations also referenced the PPA with respect to travel time. However, with respect to the definition of hours worked, the regulations were silent with respect to the PPA.

In Johnson v. Amazon.com, at issue were 10- to 15- minute medical screenings during COVID which Amazon required employees to undergo before they clocked in for their shift. The plaintiffs sued under both the FLSA and the IMWL, arguing that the medical screenings were compensable time. The District Court dismissed the case, and an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit followed. The Seventh Circuit affirmed that the case was properly dismissed under the FLSA because the medical screenings were non-compensable preliminary activities under the PPA. However, the plaintiffs argued that there was an open question of whether the IMWL incorporates the limitations of the PPA, and the Court, finding this to be an issue of "tremendous significance," certified the question to the Illinois Supreme Court.

The Illinois Supreme Court ruled that, in contrast to the FLSA, the IMWL does not incorporate the PPA's rules about preliminary and postliminary activities being non-compensable. The Court in Johnson noted that the IDOL regulations define hours worked broadly to include:

all the time an employee is required to be on duty, or on the employer's premises, or at other prescribed places of work, and any additional time the employee is required or permitted to work for the employer.

This standard is much broader than the federal standard under the PPA. Thus, the Johnson Court concluded that the IMWL and its regulations do not show any intention to incorporate the PPA's exclusions of "preliminary and postliminary activities" from compensability, and, therefore, ruled that the PPA's exclusions do not apply.

Implications for Employers

Illinois employers that have designed their workplace policies around federal legal standards on what is compensable or not, including the PPA's rules about non-compensable preliminary and postliminary activities, should immediately re-evaluate their practices in light of Johnson. Those who do not could face significant exposure, including from class action litigation, under the IMWL.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.