Searching of personal property by employers

[ccl]

I'm not sure if my question can be answered here, but I thought I would try. The employees where my husband works (In Pennsylvania) received a letter with their most recent paychecks stating that all cars coming into and leaving the parking lot would be searched completely. They work in a cold storage facility and the company is concerned about alot of thefts that have been happening. However, they said since they are also searching for drugs and weapons the cars will be thoroughly searched, meaning glove compartments and consoles. Is this legal? Can they "pat down" the employees. The company is saying it's a priviledge to park in their parking lot therefore all cars have to be searched if they park in the lot. Most of the employees are fine with the guards looking in the windows of the vehicles but feel it's an invasion of their privacy to go thru all areas of their car. They received this notification on Friday and the searching is to start on Monday. My husband believes there are approx 40 people who will be leaving work at the same time as him, and assuming it takes 2 minutes to search each car, the last person in line is looking at an additional 80 minutes after his shift ends before even leaving the parking lot. In the event this practice is legal, shouldn't the employees be paid until they actually leave the lot since the company is actually detaining them for this extra length of time. Thanks for any assistance you can give me.

[LaborLawNJ]

This is an interesting scenario.

My initial gut reaction to the question of being paid for waiting in-line to be searched is that the time employees are made to wait is compensable (assuming those waiting are non-exempt).

I say this because the purpose of the search, loss prevention, primarily benefits the employer.

Further, PA's Wage and Hour regulations define “hours worked" (for purposes of calculating compensable hours) as "...time during which an employee is required by an employer to be on the premises of the employer..."

Arguably, the employees are required to remain on the employer’s premises so that they can be searched by the employer and thus those are compensable hours.

With regards to the privacy issues, as long as the employees consent to the searches, the company is on solid ground. As an employee of a private company, there are very few privacy protections.

Good Luck

[ccl]

Thanks for your reply. When you say the company is on solid ground as long as all the employees consent to the searches, most of the employees are not going to consent to have their entire cars searched, however, they will consent to having the security guard look in their car (either thru an open door or window) but they are not willing to get out of their vehicle and have the guard search every inch of their car. Does the company have the right to force them to leave the vehicle so that they can do the full search and if the employee refuses, can they be legally terminated? Also, if the company only searches the vehicles of the warehouse workers, as opposed to upper management and office employees, is that legal or would it be considered discrimination? I appreciate your information.

[LaborLawNJ]

When I say they are on solid ground legally, what I mean is that the employers can request consent to search the employees and their cars.

If the employees refuse the employer can terminate them legally.

Of course, if the employer did the searches without consent (ie via force) then the employees may have recourse (ie assault etc).

Keep in mind that this advice is based purely on the little bit of information that you have given to me. There certainly may be other factors that would change my opinion.

Regards.

[bears00]

I have an interesting plug for this one. I don't know about your state, but in mine, a car is an extension of your home. In other words, an employer may request that you don't have any weapons in your car on their premises, but they cannot search it without a warrant or without your written consent.

I would also agree that this time in line is compensable, as this time is a requirment of the employer upon the employee (versus voluntary), for the sole benefit of the employer, and is arguably a post-shift inspection.

If I were your husband, I would plant a bug in the ear of the company big mouth (every place has one) that the time that they are detaining employees is compensable, and drop an anonymous note to management. After all, these searches really are in his best interests. Think of it this way. If the company loses enough money through theft, he could lose his job as a result of the financial instabilities.

The company is putting itself in legally precarious situation. Searching for illegal drugs and weapons needs to be conducted by a trained professional due to chain of custody issues. Apparently they haven't consulted anyone, because they would have been informed of the issues surrounding search and seizure of illegal drugs and weapons.