By John E. Thompson
In February, we reported on U.S. Wage and Hour Division Administrator David Weil‘s comments that the agency is considering whether the federal Fair Labor Standards Act somehow entitles employees to “predictable scheduling.”
His remarks related to whether there is an enforceable right to a stable work schedule and to advance notice of that schedule.
Perhaps not surprisingly, it turns out that his remarks were a harbinger of apparently coordinated efforts to press for legally mandated scheduling requirements.
It is most unlikely to be coincidence that, following Administrator Weil’s statements:
The targeted practices apparently include irregular schedules, on-call periods, call-in requirements, split shifts, rotating shifts, “unstable schedules,” vaguely described “unfair work scheduling,” and so on. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) contends that approaches like these generate work-family conflict and increase work-related stress.
Retailing and food-service seem to be drawing the most attention at the moment. But EPI also lists “business/repair services, entertainment/recreation, [and] finance/insurance/real estate” as being among the industries in which it believes undesirable scheduling practices to be widespread.
It is difficult to predict the wide variety of possible legislative or regulatory measures that might flow from these efforts. However, based upon federal proposals introduced last year (S. 2642 and H.R. 5159), proponents’ probable aims include (among others) things like:
The public-relations push for this campaign is probably just getting underway. A steady stream of similar media reports, “studies,” position papers, and press releases is likely in coming months.
Management should anticipate renewed initiatives in Congress, of course. However, activity at the state, county, and even city level can also be expected.
Employers who oppose a one-size-fits-all, effectively compulsory approach to employee scheduling should be prepared to mount an early, effective response to such proposals.
This was originally published on Fisher & Phillips’ Wage and Hour Laws blog.