In a warehouse the clock and the scanner disagree. Knowing which one pays is the start of clean records.
A picker whose scanner log starts at 6:04 may have arrived at 5:50, put on a vest, collected a device and walked to the aisle. Which of those minutes are paid? Under the federal rules, activities that are an integral and indispensable part of the job are paid, while those that are merely preliminary are not. Putting on required safety gear on site usually falls on the paid side. Walking to a workstation after clocking in is paid.
The U.S. Supreme Court held in 2014 (Integrity Staffing Solutions v. Busk) that time warehouse workers spent waiting for and going through a security check at the end of the shift was not compensable under federal law, because screening was not integral to their principal activities. That decision applies to federal law only. Some states, including California, reached different results under state law, and employers should not assume the federal answer is the final one. The safe approach is to record the time and let payroll apply the rule that governs your location.
| Activity | Where it ends up |
|---|---|
| Waiting in line at the badge reader | Depends on state, record it |
| Donning a harness required on site | Usually paid |
| Walking from the door to the work area after punching in | Paid |
| Security screening on exit | Federal: often not paid. Some states: paid |
Before holidays a distribution center may add 40 temporary workers. If an agency employs them, the agency pays them, but the host often shares responsibility for hours, safety and accuracy. Agree in writing who records time, who approves it and how corrections reach payroll. Record hours by agency and shift so you can reconcile the invoice to what was worked.
A 10 hour shift, four days a week, is 40 hours with no overtime in most states, but a fifth day pushes the whole fifth shift into overtime. In states with daily overtime, the third and fourth shifts of ten hours already carry premium pay. Forecast by looking at each person’s cumulative hours by Wednesday, and ask for volunteers before assigning mandatory extra shifts.
Break rooms far from the line mean a 15 minute break is really 9 minutes. Record the actual start and end of meal breaks and review for patterns by zone. Some states require meal periods to start before the fifth hour, and pay a premium when they are missed.
Where outbound operates around the clock, a verbal handover between shifts is where errors creep in. Short written notes attached to the shift, for example open trailers and delayed orders, keep the next shift from starting blind.
Warehouse labor starts with volume and rates. Take forecast units for each function, divide by a realistic units-per-hour rate from your own data, and you have the hours to schedule. The rates below are made up; measure your own over a few normal weeks.
| Function | Forecast units | Units per labor hour | Labor hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Receiving | 9,000 | 300 | 30 |
| Putaway | 9,000 | 180 | 50 |
| Picking | 14,400 | 120 | 120 |
| Packing | 14,400 | 160 | 90 |
| Loading | 600 cartons per trailer, 8 trailers | 400 | 12 |
| Total | 302 |
With 8-hour shifts and 15 percent for breaks, meetings and indirect work, 302 direct hours is about 44 people. If picking runs late, the problem is usually a slow rate on a few SKUs or a short-staffed hour, and timestamps by function show which.
OSHA’s powered industrial truck standard requires every forklift operator to be trained and evaluated on the type of truck and the conditions of your site before operating it, with a performance evaluation at least every three years and refresher training after an incident or near miss. That is true for agency temps too. OSHA expects the host employer and the staffing agency to share responsibility, and the host usually provides the site-specific training.
In 2023, OSHA launched a national emphasis program for warehousing and distribution centers, focused on forklifts, material handling, walking surfaces, fire protection and heat. Several states have their own heat rules, including California, which adopted an indoor heat standard in 2024.
A growing number of states regulate production quotas in large warehouses. California’s AB 701, in effect since 2022, requires covered warehouse employers to give workers a written description of any quota, and a quota cannot prevent meal or rest breaks or bathroom use. New York, Washington, Minnesota and others have passed similar laws. If you set picks per hour as a target, write it down, share it, and make sure the schedule builds in breaks.
Use scans to measure productivity and the clock to record paid time. They answer different questions.
Check your state and any union agreement. Overtime must be paid even if it was not requested, but you may discipline unauthorized work.
Rounding is allowed in some forms if it is neutral over time and does not consistently favor the employer. Test it on a month of data.
OSHA requires a performance evaluation at least once every three years, plus refresher training after an accident, a near miss, unsafe operation or a change in truck type or workplace conditions.
OSHA treats this as a shared responsibility. The staffing agency may give general training, but the host employer usually provides site-specific training and evaluation before the temp operates a truck.
A state law that limits how large warehouses use production quotas. California, New York, Washington and Minnesota require written disclosure of quotas, and quotas cannot stop workers from taking breaks.
The most common pallet size in the United States is 48 by 40 inches, the so-called GMA pallet, named for the Grocery Manufacturers Association that standardized it.
Passing work between shifts
Where overtime starts each day
Weekly overtime math
Book a demo and we will walk through a dock-to-aisle shift in the schedule and the time record.
This page is general information, not legal, payroll or tax advice. Rules differ by state, city and contract, and they change. Check with a qualified professional before you act. Numbers in examples are made up.