Truthful Work Week Ordinance: Merciless Summer time For LA County Employers


Seyfarth Synopsis: Are you prepared for it? The record-smashing icon, Taylor Swift, might have taken her tour to Europe, however that doesn’t cease new legal guidelines from cropping up again residence. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors handed the Truthful Work Week Ordinance on April 9, 2024, which is ready to enter impact on July 1, 2025, for retail employers situated within the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. However we’ve seen this remix: it carefully tracks the Metropolis of Los Angeles’ Truthful Work Week Ordinance.

Lengthy Story Quick

Truthful Work Week Ordinances have cropped up in nearly as many areas as Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, together with Oregon, Chicago, New York Metropolis, Philadelphia, Seattle, and several other California cities reminiscent of Berkeley, San Francisco, Emeryville, and Los Angeles. The Los Angeles County Truthful Work Week Ordinance would be the first county-wide ordinance in California.

The Who’s Who of Who Is Lined

I believe we’ve seen this movie earlier than. The “Retail Employers” definition within the Ordinance mirrors the definition within the LA Metropolis Truthful Work Week Ordinance, which encompasses entities recognized as retail companies within the North American Trade Classification System (NAICS)’s retail commerce classes, and subcategories 44 by way of 45, that make use of not less than 300 staff worldwide. People employed by staffing businesses and sure subsidiaries and franchises depend towards the 300-employee threshold.

Underneath the Ordinance, “Retail Staff” consists of people who:

  • Carry out not less than two hours of labor inside the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County,
  • Qualify for minimal wage underneath California regulation, and
  • Are assigned a major work location and duties that help retail operations (like retail shops or warehouses).

Don’t Make Staff Wait And Surprise If You’re Ever Coming Round

This Ordinance would require lined employers to offer estimates and advance discover of labor schedules.

  • Good Religion Scheduling Estimate. To keep away from dangerous blood, employers should present religion estimate of labor schedules to potential staff earlier than rent (and embrace a Discover of Retail Worker’s Workweek Rights), and to present staff inside 10 calendar days of a request.
  • Advance Discover. Lined staff should obtain their work schedule a fortnight, or 14 calendar days upfront of the work interval, and so they have a proper to say no any hours not included in it. If an employer modifications the work schedule after the 14-day interval, it should have documented consent from impacted staff.
  • Proper To Converse Now About Schedule Modifications. The Ordinance codifies staff’ proper to request most popular hours, occasions, or areas of labor. Employers usually are not obligated to grant these requests, however should settle for or deny the requests in writing.

Predictability Pay We Know All Too Nicely

Identical to the LA Metropolis Truthful Work Week Ordinance, staff will likely be entitled to “predictability pay” for modifications made to their work schedule inside the discover interval underneath sure circumstances. Employers will owe one hour of compensation on the common fee of pay for any change to a scheduled date, time, or location that ends in no lack of hours or ends in including greater than quarter-hour of labor.

Each the Ordinance and the LA Metropolis corollary require employers to pay half an worker’s common fee of pay when an employer modifications the beginning or finish time of a shift leading to a lack of greater than quarter-hour.  Nevertheless, the Ordinance requires cost of this quantity underneath a number of further circumstances, together with when (1) time is subtracted from a shift earlier than or after the worker experiences to work; (2) the employer modifications the date of a shift; (3) the employer cancels a shift; or (4) the employer schedules the worker for an on-call shift if the worker will not be known as in.

The exceptions to predictability pay are the identical underneath this Ordinance and the LA Metropolis Ordinance:

  1. Worker-initiated schedule modifications;
  2. Staff who settle for a schedule change attributable to one other worker’s absence;
  3. Modifications due for violating any regulation or insurance policies;
  4. Work operations are compromised pursuant to regulation; or
  5. When staff settle for further hours or work further hours that require cost of extra time.

Employers Should Keep Keep Keep With Present Staff

Employers should provide further hours to present certified staff not less than 72 hours earlier than hiring a brand new worker, contractor, or non permanent rent (until doing so would require the employer to pay extra time charges).

Clean House Between Shifts

The Ordinance matches the LA Metropolis prohibition of employers scheduling staff to work shifts that begin lower than ten hours from an worker’s final shift with out written consent and cost of time and a half for every hour of that subsequent shift.

Who Makes use of Typewriters, Anyway? – Posting and Discover Necessities

Employers should publish the required Discover in a conspicuous place in English, Spanish, and some other language spoken by not less than 10% of the staff at a office.

Employers should additionally preserve present and former staff’ information (together with work schedules, copies of written presents to employers for added work hours, and good religion estimate work schedules) for 3 years.

Penalties If You Do One thing Unhealthy

Employers who violate the Ordinance might be topic to penalties as much as $500 per violation (and as much as $1,000 for retaliating towards an worker who complains of violations) payable to the worker. In contrast to the LA Metropolis Ordinance, violations of this Ordinance don’t accrue each day penalties. Nevertheless, employers might be topic to each day administrative penalties as much as $20,000 yearly per violation per worker—aside from a retaliation violation, which has a most annual penalty and tremendous of $30,000 per worker.

Office Options

Retail employers within the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County ought to carefully study their scheduling practices and document retention procedures to verify they’re able to adjust to this new regulation by July 2025. Lined employers also needs to guarantee their payroll departments are able to deal with predictability pay. In contrast to Taylor Swift, you don’t need to do it with a damaged coronary heart. In case you have questions concerning compliance, please attain out to the authors or your favourite Seyfarth lawyer.

Edited by Cathy Feldman and Coby Turner

Recent Articles

Related Stories