Warehouse workers for Amazon.com can be forced to spend as much as 25 minutes off the clock to undergo security screenings at the end of their shift, the Supreme Court declared Monday.

The justices ruled [PDF] 9-0 against the workers at two Integrity Staffing Solutions warehouses in Nevada, locations where Amazon merchandise is shipped and processed. According to the class-action, workers at the Amazon contract facility claimed they were not paid for the nearly half-hour screening process in which they had to pass through metal detectors and remove their belts, wallets, keys and other metal objects.

Hundreds of millions of dollars were at stake, and the decision bolsters employers such as Apple, too, legal filings in the case said. Amazon disputed the allegations and said the screening process took only 90 seconds.

Mark Thierman, an attorney for the workers, said the decision renders his clients "short-changed a half hour per day."

Writing for the majority, Justice Clarence Thomas said that, for the workers to be paid for their time spent in the screening, the security check must be "an intrinsic element" of their duties.

The workers claimed they were entitled to backpay overtime and had won their claim in the lower courts, which found the security check was an integral facet of their work.