A Wisconsin judge has ordered Hormel Foods Corp. to pay about 330 current and former workers at its production plant in Beloit, Wis., $195,087 in damages after workers successfully argued they should be paid for time spent putting on and taking off uniforms.

Circuit Court Judge Michael Fitzpatrick ruled against Hormel Wednesday in a class action lawsuit, ordering the company to pay workers back wages for time spent changing into and out of uniforms at the Beloit plant, which workers and their union, United Food & Commercial Workers Union, brought to court in a class action lawsuit in 2010. Going forward, Hormel will also have to pay workers in Wisconsin for time spent putting on and taking off uniforms.

At issue is Hormel’s policy requiring Beloit workers to wear uniforms only kept at its plant. Yet the company didn’t pay workers for time spent changing clothes, washing hands or walking to and from assigned work stations.

Because the uniforms go above and beyond USDA food safety guidelines, and are required by Hormel to use during the workday, Fitzgerald found workers were entitled to be paid for time spent changing, which takes about five to six minutes each day, and adds up to about 24 or 25 hours of unpaid work per year.

“Coming right before the holiday, that’s a good decision for the workers to know that they’ll get paid,” attorney Mark Sweet of Sweet and Associates, which represented workers in the class action suit, said.

Hormel said in a statement it is reviewing the judge’s decision and is determining its next steps, but did not say how or if this will affect its policies at its Austin plant.

Wisconsin workers argued Hormel’s policy concerning uniform changes forced employees to use their 30-minute lunch breaks at the plant rather than eat out, as the company made workers change during their breaks.

Scott Ramlo, plant manager at Hormel’s Beloit facility, told the court the Hormel uniforms were a part of its brand and projected a clean image as a company.

“When we bring a customer like Walmart in or anybody that audits us, we want to look sharp,” he said, according to the ruling.

The Beloit plant produces a variety of Hormel products, primarily Hormel Chili. The plant also makes Mary Kitchen Hash, Chi Chi’s salsa and Spammy, the protein supplement Hormel ships to Guatemala.

The ruling covers about three and a half years, though workers could be compensated for more. Both parties chose June 30, 2012, as a cut-off date during the suit’s trial in June of 2012, but Fitzgerald’s ruling means workers are entitled to back pay since then.

Sweet said it will be up to attorneys to work out an agreement for further claims, as Fitzgerald left it up to both parties whether to have Fitzgerald rule all at once or have the 330 affected workers, assisted by the union, submit individual claims in court. Sweet and Associates has until Jan. 21, 2014, to file a plan to distribute damages.

Sweet said he hadn’t heard of a similar class action suit against Hormel in other states.

—Adam Harringa contributed to this report.