Dive Brief:

• In a number of separate lawsuits, Amazon warehouse workers have taken the retail giant to court over significant amounts of time spent in security lines that they say should be paid time.

• The Supreme Court has agreed to take up the matter. If it agrees that the time is compensable, the workers’ suits could go forward, and retailers or the agencies with which they contract could be liable for back pay.

• In addition to Amazon, similar claims involving Apple Inc., CVS Health Corp., J.C. Penney Co., TJX Cos., Ross Stores Inc., and others could also be affected.

Dive Insight:

Several retailers are battling court claims involving searches at break times or the end of shifts at distribution centers or stores. The contentions stem from a 1947 rule of the Fair Labor Standards Act that says employers don’t have to pay workers for the time they take getting to and from their work stations. But in 1956, the Supreme Court ruled that workers should be paid for getting in and out of gear, which it said was an example of “integral and indispensable” activities before and after shifts.

Amazon in particular operates at razor-thin margins. On top of that, retailers have a major problem with employee theft — inventory loss due to employee theft cost U.S. retailers $34.5 billion in 2011, according to the National Retail Security Survey — making security lines necessary. But workers, too, are working in retail and in retail warehouses for long hours with little pay.