New York City Fleshes Out Predictable Scheduling Law

Author: Michael Cardman, XpertHR Legal Editor

October 31, 2017

New York City has issued proposed rules to implement its predictable scheduling law for fast food and retail employees.

The proposed rules define several key terms and provide further details about the main requirements of the Fair Work Practices Law (which is more commonly known as the Fair Workweek Law).

Perhaps the most significant change involves the law's advanced scheduling requirements. The law will require covered fast food employers to provide each new fast food employee with a good-faith written estimate setting forth the number of hours the employee can expect to work per week for the duration of his or her employment, and the expected dates, times and locations of those hours. If an employer makes a long-term or indefinite change to the good-faith estimate, it must provide an updated estimate to the affected employee as soon as possible and before the employee receives the first work schedule following the change.

The proposed rules would define long term or indefinite change as three workweeks out of six consecutive workweeks during which:

  • The number of actual hours worked differs by 20 percent from the good-faith estimate during each of the three weeks;
  • The days differ from the good-faith estimate at least once per week;
  • The locations differ from the good-faith estimate at least once per week; or
  • Shifts that had been scheduled in the good-faith estimate for either morning (4:00 am to 11:59 am), afternoon (12:00 pm to 7:59 pm) or night (8:00 pm to 3:59 am), as determined by when at least 50% of the shift is worked or scheduled to be worked, are changed to a different time period at least once per week.

Other noteworthy rules include provisions that would:

  • Prohibit employers from posting or otherwise disclosing to other employees the work schedule of an employee who has been granted an accommodation based on the employee's status as a survivor of domestic violence, stalking or sexual assault if this disclosure would conflict with the accommodation;
  • Provide an exemption from the law's schedule change premium requirements for work schedule changes of 15 minutes or less; and
  • Establish that an employer does not need to post additional shifts three days in advance if it does not have notice of the need to fill a shift three days in advance due to an employee being unable to work a scheduled shift.

Employers have until November 17 to submit comments about the proposed rules at NYC Rules. The law is scheduled to take effect November 26.