Hot on the heels of the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Work Week Ordinance – which became effective April 1, 2023 – Los Angeles County’s own predictive scheduling ordinance will take effect on July 1, 2025. Similar to the city’s ordinance, Los Angeles County’s Fair Workweek Ordinance requires covered employers to provide covered employees with predictable working hours, advance notice and information related to work schedules, premium pay for schedule changes, and certain employee rights regarding schedule changes and additional work hours.
To find out if the ordinance applies to your organization – and what you need to do to comply – review these highlights below.
Covered Employers
The ordinance applies to employers who:
- Are identified as a retail business in the North American Industry Classification System within the retail trade categories and subcategories 44 through 45, or any business whose revenues are generated primarily from the sale to end users of products for personal, household, or family purposes (e.g., appliances, clothing, electronics, groceries, and household items);
- Directly, indirectly, or through an agent, exercise control over the wages, hours, or working conditions of any covered employee; and
- Employ 300 or more employees worldwide.
Covered Employees
The ordinance protects employees who:
- Perform at least two hours of work in a workweek within the Unincorporated Areas of the County;
- Are entitled to minimum wage under California law; and
- Are assigned a primary work location and duties that support retail operations (e.g., retail store or warehouse).
Employer Obligations
Good Faith Estimate of Work Schedule
Before the time of hire, or within 10 days upon a current employee’s request, employers must provide employees with a written Good Faith Estimate of Work Schedule.
If the employee’s actual hours, days, location, or shifts “substantially deviate” from the estimated work schedule, employers must have “a documented, legitimate business reason, unknown at the time of providing the [estimated work schedule] to substantiate the deviation.”
“Substantially deviate” means when any of the following occur in six out of 12 consecutive workweeks and is not due to an employee-initiated or -approved change:
- The actual hours worked differ by 20% or more;
- The actual days worked differ from the expected days;
- The actual work location differs from the expected location; or
- At least one actual shift per week is outside of the potential shifts indicated.
Right to Request Work Schedule Changes
Employees have the right to request certain hours, times, or locations of work. Employers may accept or decline the request but must notify the employee in writing of the reason for any denial.
Advanced Notice of Work Schedule
At least 14 days before the work period commences, employers must provide employees with their work schedule by:
- Posting the schedule where employee notices are customarily posted and visible to all employees; or
- Transmitting the schedule electronically or in another manner reasonably calculated to provide actual notice.
Employers must provide notice of any employer-initiated schedule changes that occur after the 14-day period, and employees have the right to decline any such changes. If the employee agrees to the changes, the employee’s consent must show the employer obtained it in advance of the change and the consent must be documented.
Right of First Refusal for Current Employees
Before hiring a new employee, including contractors or temporary employees, employers must first offer the work to current employees if:
- The current employee is qualified to do the work; and
- The additional work would not result in a premium payment for overtime.
Employers must make the offer at least 72 hours prior to hiring a new employee. Current employees have 48 hours to accept the offer in writing. If the employee does not accept the offer within the 48-hour period, or provides written notice declining the offer within the 72-hour period, employers may then hire a new employee to perform the work. Employees who accept the offer are not entitled to Predictability Pay (more on that below).
Predictability Pay
Employers must provide one additional hour of pay at the regular rate for work schedule changes that:
- Result in no loss of time to the employee; or
- Result in additional work that exceeds 15 minutes.
Employers must provide one-half of the regular rate of pay for time not worked if, after the 14-day advanced notice period, the employer:
- Subtracts hours from a shift;
- Reduces shift time by more than 15 minutes;
- Changes the shift date;
- Cancels a shift; or
- Schedules an on-call shift for which the employee is not called in.
Predictability Pay is not required where:
- An employee initiates the schedule change;
- An employee accepts a schedule change due to an absent employee, and the employer informs the employee that acceptance is voluntary and documents the acceptance;
- An employee accepts hours pursuant to the right of first refusal;
- An employee’s hours are reduced due to a violation of law or the employer’s lawful policies and procedures;
- The employer’s “operations are compromised pursuant to law”; or
- The additional hours will result in overtime premium pay.
Missing Work Shift Coverage
An employer may not require an employee to find shift coverage if the employee is unable to work due to reasons protected by law.
Rest Between Shifts
An employer may not schedule an employee to work a shift that begins less than 10 hours from the employee’s last shift, unless the employer:
- Obtains the employee’s written consent; and
- Pays the employee a premium of time and a half for each hour of the second shift not separated by at least 10 hours.
Notice Requirements
Employers must post the Notice of Retail Employees’ Workweek Rights – to be published annually by the Department of Consumer and Business Affairs (DCBA) – in any job site where a covered employee works. For employees who do not have regular access to the job site, the employer must provide the notice electronically or through U.S. Mail annually.
Recordkeeping Requirements
For a period of three years, employers must retain a printable electronic copy of all records required under this law, including:
- Work schedules of all employees;
- Written offers to and responses from employees for additional work hours;
- Written correspondence between the employer and employee regarding work schedule changes;
- Good Faith Estimate of Work Schedules provided to employees; and
- Payroll records of each employee to include – among other items – for each pay period, the amount paid, hours worked, Predictability Pay paid, premium pay paid for shifts not separated by at least 10 hours, and the formula by which wages are calculated.
Penalties
Employers who violate the law are subject to penalties payable to the employee of up to $500 for each violation of the provisions noted above, and up to $1,000 for retaliating against an employee for exercising their rights under this law. The violations will not accrue daily penalties.
Employers who violate notice and recordkeeping requirements, or fail to cooperate with a DCBA investigation, are subject to penalties payable to the County of up to $500 for each violation, and up to $1,000 for retaliating against an employee for exercising their rights under this law. Each day such a violation exists constitutes a separate and distinct violation.
Employer Takeaways
To prepare for compliance with the ordinance’s lengthy list of obligations, employers may need to reconsider their current scheduling and staffing practices, policies, and procedures in light of the following:
- Work schedules must be finalized and distributed at least 14 days before the work period.
- Work schedule changes may trigger Predictability Pay.
- Prior written consent is required before scheduling changes or scheduling certain shifts.
- Missing work shift coverage may become the employer’s responsibility.
Additional hours must first be offered to current employees.
If you have any questions related to LA County’s Fair Workweek Ordinance or need assistance reviewing scheduling and/or staffing policies and procedures, please reach out to the NFC Attorney with whom you typically work or call us at 619.292.0515.