3 Predictive Scheduling Laws All California Retailers Need to Know this Holiday Season

‘Tis the season for holiday music, family get-togethers and present shopping! Retailers are bulking up their inventory –  and their employee’s schedules – to meet the increase in holiday customer traffic.

Avoid the “naughty list” this year by ensuring compliance with these three California predictive scheduling laws:

1. San Francisco: Formula Retail Employee Rights Ordinance

First, retail employers covered by the San Francisco ordinance are required to:

• Provide an initial estimate of an employee’s work schedule upon hire
  • Must include the minimum number of working and on-call shifts, and the days and hours of those shifts
• Provide employees with their work schedules at least 14 days in advance
• If a change is made to an employee’s schedule after the work schedule is posted, the employer may be required to compensate the employee for the changes
  • 24 hours to 7 days’ notice: Employers are required to pay one hour of pay at a regular rate
  • Less than 24 hours’ notice: Employers are required to pay two hours of pay for each shift of four hours or less and four hours of pay at the regular rate for each shift of more than four hours
• If an employee is scheduled for an on-call shift and he/she is not called into work, the employer must pay two hours of work for every shift of four hours or less, and four hours of pay for each shift of 4 hours or more
• Employers must treat part- and full-time employees equally when it comes to wages, time off and promotion eligibility
• Compensation is not required for schedule changes related to unexpected employee absence due to illness, vacation or employer-provided time-off if the employee provided seven days’ notice

In addition, San Francisco’s predictive scheduling ordinance applies to all retail employers with at least 40 locations worldwide and 20 or more employees in San Francisco. An employer is considered a retail business if it maintains an array of merchandise, standardized décor and color scheme, uniform apparel, standardized signage, or a trademark. Because of this broad description, food establishments may fall under the ordinance as well.

2. Emeryville Fair Workweek Ordinance

Next, employers under the Emeryville Fair Workweek Ordinance are required to:

• Provide an initial estimate of an employee’s work schedule upon hire
  • Must include the minimum number of working and on-call shifts, and the days and hours of those shifts
• Provide employees with their work schedule at least 14 days in advance
• Provide compensation for schedule changes:
  • 24 hours to 14 days before a shift:
    • Employers must pay employees one hour of pay
  • Less than 24 hours before a shift:
    • Employee is entitled to four hours or the number of hours in the scheduled shift (whichever is less) of pay
  • All other changes require employers to pay employees one hour of pay as well
• Before hiring another employee, employers must offer the additional work to existing qualified part-time employees
• Rest periods
  • Employers cannot require employees to work during the “rest period” after each shift
    • This is defined as the first 11 hours after the end of the previous calendar day’s shift and the first 11 hours following the end of a shift that spanned two calendar days
  • If an employee volunteers to work during the rest period hours, he/she is entitled to one-and-a-half times his/her regular rate of pay

The Emeryville Fair Workweek Ordinance applies to retail companies with 56 or more employees globally, and fast food companies within Emeryville.

The ordinance defines retail companies as department stores or stores with specialty items. Also, it defines fast food companies as those that do not serve alcohol and require customers to purchase the food before they eat.

3. San Jose’s Predictive Scheduling Ordinance

Last, San Jose’s Predictive Scheduling Ordinance is not as extensive as San Francisco’s and Emeryville’s. Its primary requirement is that before hiring another employee, employers must offer the additional work to existing qualified part-time employees.

Learn More

To learn more about predictive scheduling, check out our blog post, Predictive Scheduling: What is it and Why Should I Pay Attention?