City of Seattle Proposes Secure Scheduling Ordinance
We alerted attendees of our Spring Employment Breakfast that the City of Seattle was conducting a survey regarding shift scheduling to consider implementing regulations surrounding shift scheduling. On August 9, the City issued its proposed regulations. Many businesses will find them onerous; at this time, the proposed regulations, if adopted, will apply only to quick food and retail businesses with more than 500 employees, and to employees who work at least 50% of their schedule in Seattle. However, smaller businesses will want to be aware of and watchful of the enforcement of and possible expansion of these regulations if they are adopted.
The City proposes requiring covered businesses to provide a Good Faith Estimate of a worker’s median weekly hours upon hire and with 14 days of advance notice of schedule changes. Workers would be compensated for scheduling changes such as adding to or shortening a scheduled shift. The definition of “on call” will be expanded to any off site waiting time. Employers must offer a 10 hour break between shifts.
These are just a few of the larger impacts of the proposals. A summary of all proposed requirements can be found at http://murray.seattle.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Chart-Council-Presentation_Secure-Scheduling_08-09-16-08-05-Final.pdf.
The City will hold a public hearing on August 16 at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall, as well as several other meetings
