Scheduling Laws by State and Municipality

Author: XpertHR Editorial Team

Workplace flexibility has been embraced by HR and many employers as a positive workplace practice. Flexible scheduling's positive aspects for the workplace include:

• Promoting work-life balance;
• Reducing stress;
• Promoting improved planning; and
• Offering an affordable and reasonable accommodation to ensure compliance under disabilities laws.

While workplace flexibility initiatives continue to be a strategic option for many employers, some jurisdictions have passed laws protecting an employee's right to request flexible working options without fear of retaliation.

In addition, certain jurisdictions have gone further than right-to-request flexible arrangements laws by introducing more taxing requirements. These scheduling laws, alternately referred to as predictive, secure, fair or predictable, impose an increased number of requirements on employers in addition to extending retaliation protections to employees.

These predictable scheduling laws tend to share several commonalities:

• Advance notice to employees of work schedules. The period of advance notice varies, but often 14-day advance notice of schedules is required. In addition, notice of an employer's good-faith estimate of an employee's schedule is generally required at hire.
• Schedule change premiums for failing to provide required notice. Predictability pay may be assessed in addition to an employee's regular rate of pay as a penalty for a schedule change without the required advance notice.
• Right to rest between shifts. These "clopening" provisions may limit an employer's ability to schedule an employee for consecutive shifts.
• Opportunity-to-work provisions. These provisions require an employer to offer any new hours to existing employees before hiring additional workers to fill those slots.

The following chart summarizes information regarding state and municipal scheduling laws. Where applicable, the chart links to the Employment Law Guide for further details, as well as the Employee Handbooks and Policies and Procedures tools. Chart cells for which there are no scheduling laws are marked N/A.

State laws that prohibit localities from enacting scheduling laws are covered in Municipal Preemption Laws by State.