Daily Journal Publishes Akin Gump Article on Proliferation of Predictive Scheduling Laws
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Daily Journal has published the article “Predictive scheduling laws are spreading,” written by Gary McLaughlin and Stephanie Priel, partner and associate, respectively, in the labor and employment practice at Akin Gump. The article looks at the growth of laws aimed at fighting scheduling practices that leave employees with “unpredictable and irregular schedules.”
McLaughlin and Priel write that “laws aimed at combatting such scheduling practices appear poised to be the next wave of wage and hour regulation.” They cite new “predictive scheduling” legislation in various municipalities across the country that require employers “to provide new hires with a written estimate of their work schedule.” In some locales, “this means an estimate of the expected number of shifts per week, and the days and hours of those shifts.”
Penalties can be imposed for failing to give adequate notice of any changes, the authors write. There are also other disincentives for “on-call” shifts, “where the employee is required to be available, but works only if called in by the employer.”
The article concludes by advising that employers in retail and fast food prepare themselves “as predictive scheduling laws gain traction across California and the rest of the country.” Labor costs, McLaughlin and Priel write, will likely go up “as employers lose flexibility to adjust their labor needs on a day-to-day basis.”
To read the full article, please click here.