Can Lidl Employees Recover Unpaid Wages for Pre-Shift Waiting Time?
On October 13, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated the dismissal of a former Lidl employee’s claims for unpaid pre-shift waiting time under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and New York Labor Law (NYLL).
In Santos v. Lidl US, LLC, No. 25-2357, the court held that “[w]aiting time is compensable under the FLSA when an employer requires an employee to report to the worksite at a certain time to be ready to work and, for reasons beyond the employee’s control, there is no work to be done.”
The district court dismissed Santos’s FLSA and NYLL time-shaving claims with prejudice, concluding that the Portal-to-Portal Act barred compensation for her pre-shift waiting time. The Second Circuit disagreed, finding that Santos plausibly alleged she was required to report ready to work 15 minutes before her scheduled shift but could not begin working because an opening manager had not arrived to unlock the store. The appeals court also declined to find, based on the complaint alone, that approximately 15 minutes of unpaid waiting time per week was de minimis. The court remanded the claims for further proceedings without deciding whether Lidl ultimately violated the law.
What Santos Alleged About Lidl’s Opening Shifts
Santos worked as a store clerk and stocker at Lidl stores in West Babylon, New York, from approximately July through November 2021. She was scheduled to work opening shifts from 5:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., four days per week, at $16.50 per hour. Santos alleges that Lidl required her and similarly situated opening-shift employees to report 15 minutes before their listed shift start times—at 4:45 a.m. in her case.
According to the complaint, opening managers regularly did not arrive to unlock the stores until the listed shift start time or later. Because the time clocks were located inside the stores, employees could not clock in while the stores remained locked and were not paid for the time spent waiting to enter. Santos alleges that managers were late to unlock the stores approximately once per week, resulting in 15 minutes of unpaid waiting time each week. For five of those weeks, the unpaid wages were payable as overtime.
Were you required to report to work before your scheduled shift, but unable to clock in or begin working because your workplace was not open? If you work in New York and have experienced unpaid pre-shift waiting time or other uncompensated work, contact Kehoe Law Firm to learn more about your potential legal rights.
For a free, no-obligation legal evaluation:
Michael Yarnoff, Esq.
(215) 792-6676, Ext. 804
[email protected]
[email protected]
About Kehoe Law Firm, P.C.
Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is a nationally recognized, plaintiff-side class action law firm representing investors, consumers, and employees in matters involving securities fraud, corporate misconduct, mergers and acquisitions, antitrust violations, whistleblower claims, data breaches, consumer fraud, employment law violations, as well as ERISA and retirement plan litigation. Its attorneys have served as lead or co-lead counsel in major securities cases, recovering more than $10 billion for institutional and individual investors.
Kehoe Law Firm’s class action legal services are provided on a contingency-fee basis, meaning plaintiffs are not responsible for attorneys’ fees or litigation expenses. Any request for attorneys’ fees and expenses will be subject to court approval.
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