- Who is covered?
Employees of retail, hospitality or food services establishments (including chains and integrated enterprises) that employ 500 or more employees worldwide who are primarily engaged in providing retail, hospitality or food services are covered.
Note that employees whose primary duties do not relate to retail, hospitality or food service operations; salaried employees who are exempt from minimum wage and workers supplied by worker leasing companies or businesses that provide services to or on behalf of an employer are not covered or counted toward the 500 employee threshold.
The number of employees employed by an employer is calculated based on the average number of employees employed on each work day during each of 20 or more workweeks in the current calendar year or immediately preceding calendar year.
- Are any employees not covered?
Yes. Employees whose primary duties do not relate to retail, hospitality or food service operations; salaried employees who are exempt from minimum wage and workers supplied by worker leasing companies or businesses that provide services to or on behalf of an employer are not covered by this law.
- What does the law require?
Good faith estimate of work schedule. Employers must provide a new employee a written good faith estimate of the work schedule at the time of hire that:
- States the median number of hours the employee is expected to work in an average month;
- Explains the voluntary standby list;
- Explains whether the employee who is not on a standby list may expect to work on-call shifts, and if so, sets forth an objective standard for when an employee may be expected to work on-call shifts if the employee is not on the standby list; and
- May be based on prior year schedule if it is a good-faith estimate of seasonal or episodic work. Voluntary standby list. Employers may maintain a voluntary standby list of employees willing to work additional hours due to unanticipated customer needs or unexpected absences if listed employees have requested or agreed in writing and the employer notifies each employee, in writing:
Voluntary standby list. Employers may maintain a voluntary standby list of employees willing to work additional hours due to unanticipated customer needs or unexpected absences if listed employees have requested or agreed in writing and the employer notifies each employee, in writing:
- That the list is voluntary and lays out how to be removed from the list;
- How the employer will notify standby list employees of additional hours and how to accept the additional hours;
- That the employee is not required to accept the additional hours offered; and
- That an employee on the standby list is not eligible for additional compensation for changes to the employee’s written work schedule resulting from acceptance of additional hours as a result of being on the list.
Template for the voluntary standby request form.
Advance notice of work schedule. The employer must provide an employee with a work schedule, in writing, at least 14 calendar days before the first day on the schedule. The work schedule must be posted in a conspicuous and accessible location.
The employer must provide a written work schedule that runs through the last date of the posted schedule to:
- A new employee on or before first day of work; or
- An existing employee on the first day of work after a leave of absence.
The written work schedule must include all work shifts and on-call shifts for the work period.
If the employer requests changes to the written work schedule after the advance notice is given:
- Employer must provide the employee with timely notice of the change; and
- The employee may decline any work shifts not included in the employee’s written work schedule.
At any time after the advance notice has been given, an employee may request in writing that the employer add the employee to work shifts or on-call shifts without triggering compensation in addition to wages for all hours worked, unless the time is within 10 hours of their previous shift (see just below).
Right to rest between shifts. Unless the employee requests or consents to work such hours, the employer may not schedule or require an employee to work during:
- The first 10 hours following the end of a previous calendar day’s work or on-call shift; or
- The first 10 hours following the end of a work or on-call shift that spanned two calendar days.
The employer must compensate the employee for each hour or portion of an hour that the employee works during the first 10-hour periods listed above at the rate of one and one-half times the employee’s regular rate of pay. This premium pay provision does not apply to any hour or portion of an hour worked during which the employee is providing offsite repair assistance to a motorist with a disabled vehicle (roadside assistance).
Right to input into work schedule. At time of hire and during employment, an employee may identify any limitations or changes in work schedule availability, including child care needs, and may also request not to be scheduled for work shifts during certain times or at certain work locations. While an employer may not retaliate against an employee for making such a request, the employer is under no obligation to grant the employee’s request.
Compensation for work schedule changes. An employer is required to provide compensation to an employee for each employer-requested change that occurs to a written work schedule without advance notice (14 calendar days prior to the beginning of the workweek in which the change occurs) as follows:
- One hour at the regular rate of pay, in addition to wages earned when the employer:
- Adds more than 30 minutes of work to the employee’s shift;
- Changes the date or start time or end time of the employee’s work shift with no loss of hours; or
- Schedules the employee for an additional work or on-call shift.
- One-half times the employee’s regular rate of pay, per hour, for each scheduled hour that the employee does not work when the employer:
- Subtracts hours from the employee’s work shift before or after the employee reports for duty;
- Changes the date or start time or end time of the employee’s shift, resulting in a loss of work shift hours;
- Cancels the employee’s work shift; or
- Does not ask the employee to perform work when the employee is scheduled for an on-call shift.
- What are the notice and posting requirements?
Employers must display a
Predictive Scheduling poster, giving notice of the rights and responsibilities of this law. The poster must be posted in a conspicuous place at the workplace or provided on an individual basis if displaying the poster is not feasible.
Also, the employer is required to post the written work schedule in a conspicuous and accessible place, in English and in the language the employer typically uses to communicate with the employees.
Employers are required to provide employees on a standby list notice of additional hours by:
- In-person conversation;
- Telephone call;
- Email;
- Text message;
- Other electronic or written format.
- What if an employee wants to work extra shifts?
At any time after the advance notice of written work schedule is made, an employee may request in writing that the employer add the employee to more shifts. Changes to the written work schedule resulting from these written requests are not subject to the advance notice requirements of this law.
- What if an employee asks not to be scheduled?
An employee may decline any work shifts not included in the employee’s written work schedule and may request, in writing, to be added to one or more work shifts or on-call work shifts. In addition, an employee may request not to be scheduled for work shifts during certain times or at certain locations, but an employer may require the employee to provide reasonable verification of the need for such a request. An employer may not retaliate against an employee for making a request to not be scheduled, but is under no obligation to grant the employee’s request to be taken off shifts.