NYC Joins the Pre-Trump Push for Employee Work Schedule Protections

New York City has joined several other cities, including San Francisco and Seattle, introducing legislation that offers more predictable, stable work schedules for employees in low-wage occupations. The legislation generally offers employees more notice of schedules, more access to extra hours, additional pay for last-minute schedule changes, and a mandated period of rest between certain back-to-back shifts. If passed, the legislation would take effect 180 days after being signed into law by Mayor Bill de Blasio.

More specifically, New York City has proposed a package of five bills that would offer the following protections related to employee work schedules:

• Employees would have the right to request a change in their work arrangements (e.g., schedule changes, location reassignments) without fear of retaliation and employers would be required to engage in an “interactive process” and provide a good faith response within two weeks of the request.
• Employees would be afforded a right to receive certain changes to work arrangements in emergency situations, like a childcare emergency or personal health emergency.
• Employers would be prohibited from engaging in on-call scheduling of retail employees.
• Employers would be prohibited from providing a retail employee with less than 20 hours of work during any 14-day period.
• Employers of fast food restaurants would be required to provide employees with an estimate of their work schedule upon hire and notice of work schedules 14 days in advance, subject to penalties for untimely notice.
• Employers would be prohibited from making fast food employees work consecutive shifts when the first shift closes the establishment and the second shift opens it the next day (nicknamed “cloepening” shifts). Employers would be required to give fast food workers at least eleven hours off between such shifts and would pay a $100 premium to an employee every time he or she was made to work such consecutive cloepening shifts.
• Employers of fast-food establishments would be required to offer available hours to existing employees up until the point that they would have to pay those existing employees overtime, or until all current employees have rejected such available hours, before they could hire new employees.

New York City’s efforts appear to be an attempt to prevent what many fear will be backlash against workers’ rights from the incoming Trump administration. The goal of these legislative measures is to lessen the wage gap in big cities, where the cost of living is typically higher, by offering low-wage workers the opportunity to budget in advance, plan for education or family care, and secure a second job, among other things. Those who oppose the initiatives raise several concerns. According to many business officials, the implementation of scheduling mandates on employers would result in rising costs and decreased efficiency because scheduling changes are typically initiated by employees. Another critic accused the New York City Council of acting as labor organizers, particularly in light of the penalties imposed, which are similar to collective bargaining provisions.

For more information on the pending New York City legislation and how the new requirements will affect your business, please contact John Vreeland, Esq., Chair of the firm’s Wage and Hour Compliance Group, at (973) 535-7118 or jvreeland@genovaburns.com, or Dina M. Mastellone, Esq., Chair of the firm’s Human Resources Practices Group, at dmastellone@genovaburns.com, or 973-533-0777.