Seattle restaurants and retail employers may soon face significant restrictions on employee scheduling.  The Seattle City Council is currently considering a proposed ordinance with the potential to impact hundreds of employers across the City.  Following are the basics of the proposed legislation.

What employers would be covered by the proposed ordinance?

  • Retail employers and large limited or quick food service employers with 500 or more employees worldwide; and
  • Full-service restaurants with 500 or more employees and 40 or more locations worldwide.

What employees would be covered by the proposed ordinance?

  • Hourly, non-exempt employees who work at least 50% of the time within the City of Seattle.

Continue Reading City of Seattle Proposes New Ordinance Regulating Employee Scheduling

1790100On July 3, 2015, the San Francisco Retail Workers Bill of Rights becomes operative. This ordinance creates major changes for many companies doing business in San Francisco.

Employers Affected

The law applies to “formula retail” businesses with (a) 20 or more locations worldwide, and (b) 20 or more employees in San Francisco, as well as their janitorial and security contractors. Pending amendments to the law, if passed, would change from 20 to 40 the number of retail establishments worldwide for a formula retail business to be covered by the law.

A “formula retail” business is any business that maintains two or more of the following features:

  • Standardized array of merchandise
  • Standardized façade
  • Standardized décor and color scheme
  • Uniform apparel
  • Standardized signage
  • Trademark or service mark

Requirements

1.  Advance Notice of Work Schedule

Employers must provide new employees with a good-faith initial estimate of the number of scheduled shifts the employee will receive each month, along with the days and hours the shifts will occur.

Employers must also provide employees with their schedules two weeks in advance. Schedules may be posted in the workplace or provided electronically, so long as employees are given access to the electronic schedules at work. If the posted schedule is changed, the employer must notify the employee of the change by in-person conversation, phone call, email, text message, or other electronic communication.  This requirement doesn’t apply if the employee requested the change.
Continue Reading San Francisco Is About to Begin Enforcing the Retail Workers Bill of Rights – Are You in Compliance?