U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and 79 other members of Congress today introduced legislation meant to end unstable scheduling practices for workers.
The Schedules That Work Act addresses unpredictable and rigid scheduling practices like putting workers on call with no guarantee of work, scheduling them for split shifts, sending them home early without pay when demand is low, and punishing those who request schedule changes.
“This bill is about basic fairness,” Warren said in a statement. “A single mom should know if her hours are being canceled before she arranges for daycare and drives halfway across town to show up at work. Someone who wants to go to school to get an education should not be able to get fired just for asking for a more predictable schedule. A worker who is told to wait around on call for hours with no guarantee of work hours should get something for his time. It’s time to end unfair scheduling practices that hurt workers and families.”
The bill would guarantee the right of employees of companies with more than 15 workers to request changes to their schedules without fear of retaliation. Employers would be required to respond to each request, and when it is made because of a health condition, child care or elder care, a second job, education or job training, the employer would have to grant the request unless a legitimate business reason precludes it.
Under the bill, employees in food service, cleaning, retail and other occupations with documented scheduling abuses also would get their work schedules two weeks in advance and would receive extra pay when they are put on call without any guarantee that work will be available, when they report to work only to be sent home early, when they are scheduled for a split shift or when their schedule is changed with less than 24 hours’ notice.
In April, the New York Attorney General’s Office asked Framingham-based TJX Companies, Inc., and a dozen other national retailers whether they require employees to be available for work with as little as a few hours’ notice. A spokesman for Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said she also had concerns about any practice resulting in employees not being paid for their time.
A TJX spokeswoman said at the time the company did not use on-call scheduling, and managers worked to develop schedules that served the needs of both their employees and the company.