Requires employers of retail, food service or cleaning employees to give such employees 7 day notice of their work schedule and a months notice of the minimum hours of work

Title of bill

An act to amend the labor law, in relation to employee work schedules

Purpose

This bill amends the Labor Law by adding a new Title 2 to Article 5 to create a responsibility upon certain employers to provide employees with consistent and predictable work schedules.

Summary of provisions

Section 1 creates a new Title 2 to Article 5 of the Labor Law and includes six subsections pursuant to the new Title. Section 171 defines "employer," "employee," "retail employee," "food service employee" and "cleaning employee" for purposes of the Title. Section 172 creates advanced notice requirements whereby an employer covered by the Title must provide notice of the minimum number of hours the employee will be assigned on a monthly basis, as well as provide seven days notice to an employee as to their scheduled shift; Section 172 also includes posting requirements within covered establishments. Section 173 permits similarly situated employees to exchange work shifts. Section 174 sets forth prohibitions upon employers covered by the Title from interfering with the provisions of the Title and/or retaliating against employees exercising rights covered by the Title. Section 175 sets forth exceptions to the Title. Section 176 sets forth enforcement powers of the Department of Labor, as well as private causes of action by employees in relation to some provisions of the Title.

Section 2 addresses severability of the Title.

Section 3 sets forth the effective date of the Title.

Justification

This bill increases the ability of low-wage earners to plan important aspects of their lives, pertaining especially to the provision of healthcare, childcare and other essential family needs. Employers routinely construct work schedules that vary wildly from week to week, as to the days of the week worked and total hours scheduled. Too often, work schedules provided 'at the last minute,' result in the inability of employees to effectively manage childcare and healthcare needs, resulting in both increased absenteeism from work and in missing important medical appointments. Some low wage earners are also confronted with work schedules that set forth less hours than expected, further hampering their ability to effectively provide for themselves and their families. This bill increases workers' predictability of income by providing notice of the minimum hours an employee is expected to be scheduled during a given month. This bill also alleviates scheduling concerns by giving employees seven days notice of expected work shifts, as well as allowing covered employees to exchange shifts with similarly situated colleagues. While the Department of Labor holds the power to wage a penalty for each violation of this Title, employees are further provided with a private cause of action to enforce provisions relative to monthly expected hours statements.

Prior legislative history

New bill.

Effective date

This act will take effect ninety days after it becomes law.