POLITICO: San Francisco is now the country’s first jurisdiction to limit how chain stores can alter their employees’ schedules.
Other states and cities are considering similar statutory restraints. Work scheduling rules are therefore poised to follow localized minimum wage increases and paid leave mandates as the newest instance of state and local government stepping in to fill the void left by the decades-long decline of private-sector labor unions.
San Francisco’s new law, which its Board of Supervisors passed Tuesday by unanimous vote, will require any “formula retailer” (retail chain) with 20 or more locations worldwide that employs 20 or more people within the city to provide two weeks’ advance notice for any change in a worker’s schedule. An employer that alters working hours without two weeks’ notice — or fails to notify workers two weeks ahead of time that their schedules won’t change — will be required to provide additional “predictability pay.“ Property service contractors that provide janitorial or security services for these retailers will also need to abide by the new rule.
“We know that while the economy is doing well for some, there are too many workers and families struggling in low-wage jobs with unpredictable shifts,” said Supervisor David Chiu, who in September introduced the predictable scheduling measure as part of a “Retail Workers Bill of Rights.” In addition to limiting schedule changes, the bill requires employers to pay part-time employees the same starting hourly wage as full-time employees in the same position. Employers must also give part-time employees the same access to time off enjoyed by full-time workers, and equal eligibility for promotion… (more)
EDITOR: Seventy-two hours advanced notice of schedule change is reasonable. Two weeks is not. All this will do is lead to inefficiency without bringing much benefit to workers. We do wholeheartedly agree with laws increasing minimum wages, so long as they remain within reason. Pennsylvania should enact $11 an hour. It is the only way to permit employers to increases without facing competitors with lower wage costs.
If the unions have been broken, then government should step in. It is supposed to at least in part represent the people.
