Food Safety and Inspection Service March 19, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is proposing to amend the meat and poultry products regulations pertaining to the schedule of operations. FSIS is proposing to amend these regulations to define the 8-hour workday as including time that inspection program personnel need to prepare the inspection station, if necessary, or retrieve and return lot tally sheets; the time necessary for FSIS inspection program personnel to sharpen knives, if necessary; and the time necessary to conduct duties scheduled by FSIS, including administrative activities. The activities are integral and indispensable to inspectors' work and are part of the continuous workday as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act. Therefore, they are activities that need to be part of the Agency's regulatory definition for the 8-hour workday.