What are Predictive Work Schedule Laws?
Predictive work schedule laws—also known as ‘Fair Workweek’ laws—promote fairer scheduling practices, require that companies give employees sufficient notice of work schedules and enforce penalties for late schedule changes.
Fair workweek laws typically require employers to:
- Give good faith estimations of likely hours on hiring
- Provide minimum break times between shifts
- Avoid “clopening” shifts (where employees work closing and then opening shifts)
- Offer right of first refusal for new shifts to current employees before new hires
- Avoid late schedule changes (or pay extra) except due to “acts of god” (e.g., a hurricane)
- Pay increased rates for late schedule changes (often known as “predictability pay”)
- Keep more detailed schedule records
The Rise of ‘Fair Workweek’ Regulations
On-call and just-in-time scheduling means that many Americans’ work schedules are unpredictable from month to month, week to week or even day to day. Nationwide, more than 8 million retail and food service workers receive less than seven days’ notice of upcoming shifts, suggest recent estimates.
On January 1, 2021, Chicago became the latest major American city to enforce work schedule laws. Days later, New York City strengthened its Fair Workweek legislation to protect against sudden reductions in shift-volume for fast food workers. Several other states also considering predictive schedule laws, which could mean compliance nightmares ahead for companies who operate in multiple jurisdictions.
Where Do Predictive Schedule Laws Apply?
The following places have passed predictive work schedule laws:
| Where? | Who Does it Apply To? | Employees are guaranteed…* |
| San Francisco, CA | Chain stores with 40+ stores worldwide and 20+ employees locally | – Right of first refusal on new shifts – Good faith schedule estimates on hiring – 14 day notice of schedules – “Predictability pay” for late changes – Extra pay for on-call shifts |
| Emeryville, CA | Retail or fast food companies with 56+ employees worldwide and 20+ employees locally | – Retail or fast food companies with 56+ employees worldwide and 20+ employees locally – Right of first refusal on new shifts 14 day notice of schedules -“ Predictability pay” for late changes – Up to 4 hours pay for shifts cancelled with less than a day’s notice – Extra pay for short breaks between shifts – Right to decline last-minute shifts |
| New York, NY | Fast food companies with 30+ US locations and retail companies with 20+ sellers | Fast food – Good faith schedule estimates on hiring – Right of first refusal on new shifts -14 day notice of schedules – Immediately notification of cancelled shifts – Right to refuse and extra pay for “clopening” shifts – “Predictability pay” for late changes – “Just Cause” protection against reductions in hours (effective 7/1/2021) Retail – 72 hour notice of schedules – Right to decline last minute shifts – No on-call shifts – No last-minute cancellations |
| Seattle, WA | Retail and quick service restaurants with 500+ employees worldwide and full service restaurant with 40+ locations and 40+ employees worldwide | – Good faith schedule estimates on hiring – Right of first refusal on new shifts – Right to state schedules preferences – 14 day notice of schedules – Right of refusal and extra pay for “clopening” shifts – “Predictability pay” for late schedule changes |
| Oregon (statewide) | Retail, hospitality and food service companies with 500+ employees worldwide | – Good faith estimate of median scheduled hours on hiring – 7 day notice of schedules – Right to rest between shifts – Right to request changes – “Predictability pay” for late changes (unless employee is on voluntary standby list) |
| Philadelphia, PA | Retail, hospitality and food service companies with 250+ employees and 30+ locations worldwide | – Right of first refusal on new shifts – Good faith schedule estimate on hiring – Right to request changes – Right to decline extra shifts – 10 day notice of schedules – ‘Predictability pay’ for late changes Immediate notification of schedule changes – Right to refuse and bonus pay for “Clopening” shifts |
| Chicago, IL | Companies with 50+ “covered employees” (earning $26/hour or $50,000/year or less) and 100+ employees worldwide in retail, healthcare, hotels, manufacturing, building and warehouse services, 250+ employees worldwide at nonprofits, and 250+ employees and 30+ locations worldwide at restaurants | – Estimate of schedule on hiring – 10 day notice of schedule – (Rising to 14 days in 2022) – Right to decline and – ‘Predictability pay’ for late schedule changes – Immediately notification of schedule changes – Right to decline “Clopening” shifts |
*Philadelphia mandates that schedule records be kept for 2 years. Every other locality requires 3 years.
The following states have prohibited local governments passing predictive work schedule laws:
- Iowa
- Arkansas
- Tennessee
- Georgia
Predictive Work Schedule Laws: How to Stay Compliant
Even if you aren’t affected by existing Fair Workweek laws, you might be soon—there’s a campaign for wide-ranging predictive work schedule laws at a federal level. Businesses of all sizes should be ready to inform employees of schedules in advance, and avoid schedules with minimal breaks between shifts.
Avoidance is easier than tracking predictability pay and if you don’t want labor costs to skyrocket, or to be caught short-staffed, that means putting a system in place to create more efficient schedules, quicker. At a minimum, you’ll want to digitize your records.
Key Takeaway – Better Scheduling Helps Everyone
The thing is, it’s not just about staying compliant—scheduling instability increases employees’ psychological distress (U. of California). Better scheduling helps: the predictive work schedule law in Emeryville, in effect since 2017, has been shown to improve sleep quality and reduce stress levels for covered employees with young children (Duke University).
And that’s not all: stable scheduling can also improve business profitability, research suggests. Part of the story is that work life balance and flexibility is key to employee engagement, which in turn has a big effect on productivity and staff turnover.
Paycor Can Help
Watch our Webinar: Are You Scheduling Like a Pro, to learn how Paycor Scheduling helps medium and small businesses increase productivity and track labor costs while staying compliant.