Seattle To Regulate How Retailers Schedule Workers

Seattle this week became the second major U.S. city to pass a “secure scheduling” law, which regulates how large retailers and food-service employers may schedule their workers. The bill requires employers to give good-faith estimates of hours an employee can expect to work upon hiring, post work schedules two weeks in advance, provide at least 10 hours rest between opening and closing shifts, give available hours to existing part-time employees before hiring new workers and pay additional “predictability pay” when employers make changes to the posted schedule. It also mandates that employers keep records for three years documenting responses to employee requests for schedule changes, as well as the good-faith estimates. It will take effect in July 2017 and apply to many businesses with 500 or more workers. San Francisco passed a similar measure in 2014, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio earlier this month said he hopes to introduce similar legislation.