Predictive scheduling is the process of giving employees ample notice of their work schedule so they can plan around working hours. These laws ensure that workers are not scheduled hours before a shift. Early on, predictive scheduling laws only applied to workers in certain industries, like restaurants and retail. But as time has gone on and additional work schedule laws have been passed, more industries are included in these schedule requirement laws. Employers may also face penalties for failing to comply with these laws, so understanding them is important.
Currently, only a small handful of states have laws centered around predictive scheduling.
Federal Regulations
Currently, no federal law requires employers to provide employees with notice of work schedules. However, predictive scheduling compliance is becoming more popular, and many states have their own laws in place. Businesses of all sizes should be ready to comply with any federal law mandating that they provide employees with notice of their work schedule at least one week in advance. Beginning this process now will help companies avoid the headache of rapid changes and increased costs.
State Regulations
Currently, there is one state, Oregon, with full state predictive scheduling regulations that apply to every city. Additionally, Vermont and New Hampshire have specific regulations in place around flexible working hours for employees. Click through the accordion below to learn more about each state.
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Penalties: An employee must receive wages for the time worked plus one hour at their regular rate of pay if the employer:
An employee must also be compensated for 50% of their regular rate of pay for each scheduled hour if the employer:
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For more in-depth details on Oregon’s predictive scheduling law, review the state’s Bureau of Labor and Industries website.
Oregon’s predictive scheduling law affects employees whose primary job duties involve retail, hospitality, or food services; other employees and salaried employees who are exempt from minimum wage are not covered. So, even if your company falls under the general umbrella of retail, hospitality, and food service, not all of your employees may be subject to this law.
Good Faith Estimate
When managing current employees and upon hiring a new employee, if an employee is subject to Oregon’s law, the employer must provide a good faith estimate of the employee’s work schedule that includes average monthly hours and an explanation of an on-call or standby list, if the employer uses one. Employers are not required to use a standby list, but if they do, they must make sure their employees understand that the list is voluntary. Once employees join the list, they may remove themselves from it at any time without penalty.
Mandatory Rest Periods
The Oregon law also provides for mandatory rest periods between shifts. Employees are entitled to rest during the first 10 hours following the end of a previous calendar day’s work or the first 10 hours following the end of a work shift that spanned two calendar days. Eligible employees must be compensated at one and a half times their regular hourly rate for each hour the employee works during what would otherwise be a 10-hour rest period.
Schedule Changes
In Oregon, if an employer requests a change to the work schedule after notice has been given, an employee may decline the request. Additionally, any employer-requested change to an already posted work schedule will result in additional compensation for affected employees.
While Vermont does not currently have a full-fledged predictive scheduling law, it does have a flexible working arrangement law in place. This law states that employees have the right to request a flexible work schedule—and employers must discuss and consider, in good faith, these requests at least twice per calendar year.
A flexible schedule may include the following:
- Changes in the number of days worked
- Changes in the number of hours worked
- Changes in the time the employee arrives at work
- Changes in the time the employee leaves work
- Work from home
- Job sharing
This law only creates a basis for discussion. It does not change the legal rights of employees and employers to create, terminate, or modify flexible working arrangements.
New Hampshire has also adopted a flexible working arrangement law that strictly prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who request a flexible work schedule. This does not mean that the employer must abide by the schedule change request—it’s quite the opposite, as an employer can deny the request. However, it does protect both the employer and employee from adverse reactions to these requests.
Active Bills in Legislation
The following states have predictive scheduling laws currently in an active bill state (although not yet placed into law at the time of this publication):
Prohibitions
Several states have gone in the opposite direction—explicitly forbidding the enactment of predictive scheduling laws. These include the following:
These laws state that local city governments are prohibited from creating laws around scheduling, minimum wage changes, and additional employment matters.
Local Regulations
Some states have predictive scheduling laws in place but only in certain cities and municipalities. The regulations are similar for each but have some distinctions you will need to pay attention to if your business operates in these areas.
Select your city or municipality from the accordion below to learn more.
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| *NOTE: Employers must provide their employees with advanced notice of their work schedules (at least 2 weeks in advance). Employees have the right to decline any schedule not provided at least 14 days in advance. Additionally, employers must provide written notice of any change to an employee’s schedule within 24 hours of the schedule change. | ||
For more in-depth detail on the Berkeley predictive scheduling law, review the city’s Fair Workweek Ordinance.
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For more in-depth details on the Emeryville predictive scheduling law, review the city’s Fair Workweek Ordinance.
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For more in-depth details on the Los Angeles predictive scheduling law, review the city’s Fair Workweek Ordinance.
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For more in-depth details on the San Francisco predictive scheduling law, review the city’s Formula Retail Employee Rights Ordinances.
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For more in-depth details on the San Jose predictive scheduling law, review the city’s Fair Workweek Ordinance.
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For more in-depth details on the Evanston predictive scheduling law, review the city’s Fair Workweek Ordinance.
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For more in-depth details on the Chicago predictive scheduling law, review the city’s Fair Workweek Ordinance.
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For more in-depth details on the New York City predictive scheduling law, review the city’s Fair Work Practices.
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For more in-depth details on the Philadelphia predictive scheduling law, review the city’s Fair Workweek Employment Standards.
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For more in-depth details on the Seattle predictive scheduling law, review the city’s Seattle Secure Scheduling Ordinance.
How to Implement Predictive Scheduling
Compliance with predictive scheduling laws presents unique challenges, especially for larger companies. Those businesses with locations in more than one city or state may have to abide by different sets of work schedule labor laws. This creates confusion and the real possibility of an innocent but costly violation.
Here are some key steps you can take if you operate in an area with predictive scheduling laws:
Step 1: Determine if your company is a covered employer. The first thing to do is to determine whether your company is subject to the work schedule law. Every employment law will define a covered employer. Some work schedule laws only apply to restaurant and retail businesses, while others apply more broadly. If your industry is not listed, the regulation may not apply to you.
Step 2: Create policies. If your business is a covered employer, you need to create policies to adhere to the new law. You may also want to create template forms for advanced scheduling and scheduling changes (you can use our free scheduling templates for an easier time). On these forms, make sure there is a reminder to employees and managers of the potential ramifications of making schedule changes.
Step 3: Conduct training. For managers who schedule employees, you want to ensure they receive detailed training on the predictive scheduling law in your location. They will be responsible for scheduling employees and making changes, so they need to know where their boundaries are under the law.
Step 4: Audit your processes. Once established, you will want to routinely audit your processes for all of your business locations. This will help ensure that your company remains compliant. Running regular audits will also help you uncover areas for improvement, allowing you to make changes as employment laws change.
Step 5: Review related regulations. Predictive scheduling laws do not exist in a vacuum. Implementing new procedures to comply with this law may overlap with other processes for hiring and employee discipline. For example, failing to delineate the predictability pay on an employee’s wage statement could result in a labor code violation. This encroachment may require you to rethink your policies and make adjustments.
Step 6: Automate schedules. You don’t have to do everything manually. Your company can automate your employees’ schedules, ensuring compliance with your area’s predictive scheduling laws.
For an easy time, we recommend using Homebase, our best overall employee scheduling software, so you can schedule your employees well in advance and comply with any predictive scheduling laws. For businesses with only one location and up to 20 employees, Homebase is free and includes basic scheduling and time-tracking capabilities.
Benefits of Predictive Scheduling for Your Company
Predictive scheduling offers benefits to both employers and employees, helping clearly define work schedules, remain compliant with the law, and maintain a full staff.
- Employer Benefits: While it might seem like there are no upsides for businesses, let’s look at the bigger picture. When employees are happy, they are more engaged and efficient. When employees have a better grasp on their schedule, they have less stress and worry about when they’re working and whether they will have enough hours. Reduced stress makes employees better able to focus on their tasks at hand and more loyal to their employer, reducing turnover and costs for the business.
- Employee Benefits: For many years, a common complaint from employees working in retail and restaurant settings has been unreliable hours from their employer and not knowing when or how much they may be scheduled to work in any given week.
Work schedule laws have clear benefits for employees. They mandate that employees know their schedules well in advance so that they can plan social activities and manage other life responsibilities. In some cases, if an employer violates the law and makes a schedule change, the employee will receive additional pay.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Simply put, it is providing your employees with advance notice of their work schedule. When you give your employees their schedules in advance (we recommend 14 days in advance), it can reduce the amount of callouts and no-shows.
Currently, only one state requires predictive scheduling laws—Oregon. However, there are several cities that also have work schedule laws—located in California, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington. Several other states have bills in place to introduce predictive scheduling laws.
This refers to employers who schedule unpredictable shifts for employees, such as multiple close/open shifts in a row, scheduling the day of or the day before a shift, and scheduling against availability. Additionally, it is considered unfair scheduling to not allow your employees to have some sort of control over their schedules.
Bottom Line
Even if your state or locality has not yet passed a predictive scheduling law, you can prepare your business by implementing employee scheduling software that will keep your company compliant when the time comes. Homebase can help by saving you time and frustration from having to constantly review and rework schedules, plus if you have one location and up to 20 employees, it’s free!
