But See Kohlheim: The Third Circuit Muddies the Water on the Compensability of Employee Meal Periods under the Fair Labor Standards Act in Babcock v. Butler County

Abstract

On November 24, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in Babcock v. Butler County, formally adopted the application of the predominant benefit test when determining if the Fair Labor Standards Act requires an hourly employee’s meal period to be compensated. In so doing, the court implicitly concluded that each circuit that previously addressed the issue adopted the predominant benefit test. This Comment argues that the Third Circuit mischaracterized the status of the law on which test the circuit courts apply by overlooking the Eleventh Circuit’s application of the relieved from all duties test.