The City of Los Angeles will become the most recent city in California to curtail the “unpredictability of work schedules endemic in the retail industry” by adopting a “fair workweek” ordinance. The ordinance will go into effect on April 1, 2023.
Referencing Seattle, San Francisco, New York, Philadelphia, and Oregon as anteceding adopters of similar ordinances, Los Angeles’s ordinance is meant to protect working families by ensuring stable and predictable work hours, opportunities for additional work hours, healthier work weeks with adequate rest, and a greater voice in deciding when and how many hours to work.
Pursuant to the ordinance, retail employers with at least 300 employees globally must: (1) provide each new employee a written good faith estimate of the employee’s work schedule, (2) provide written notice of the employee’s work schedule at least 14 calendar days before the start of the work period and provide written notice of any employer initiated changes to the work schedule that occur thereafter, (3) before hiring a new employee or using a contractor, temporary service or staffing agency to perform work, first offer the work to current qualified employees, (4) provide premium pay for certain work schedule changes, and (5) provide adequate rest between shifts. Employees covered by the ordinance include those who qualify for minimum wage and perform at least two hours of work in a workweek in Los Angeles.
For more information on the ordinance, you can access the City of Los Angeles’s FAQs here.
