Los Angeles Puts Scheduling Requirements on Retailers
Author: Michael Cardman, HR & Compliance Center Senior Legal Editor
December 12, 2022
Los Angeles has enacted a new ordinance that aims to promote the "health, safety, and welfare" of the city's retail workers by giving them more predictable work schedules.
Signed December 8 and taking effect April 1 of next year, the Fair Work Week Ordinance (FWWO) will require covered employers to provide most employees with:
- Good-faith estimates of their work schedules;
- The right to request schedule changes;
- Two weeks' advanced notice of their work schedules;
- Offers of additional work before hiring other workers;
- Predictability pay for certain schedule changes; and
- Rest between shifts.
The ordinance's sponsors said it will benefit the city to have retail workers who are "rested, able to plan for childcare, and rely less on the city's social services."
Employers that violate the FWWO must pay restitution and one-time penalties of up to $500 per violation of each major requirement of the FWWO. There also are administrative fines and penalties payable to the city.
Los Angeles joins New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia and several other cities that have enacted similar scheduling laws in recent years.