Q.  Can you explain to me Philadelphia’s new Fair Workweek Ordinance?

A.  In late December 2018, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney signed an Ordinance that will require large fast-food chains, retailers, and hotels to provide employees with advance notice of their schedules and a variety of other protections. The Ordinance—known as the “Fair Workweek” Ordinance—requires certain Philadelphia employers to provide employees with at least two weeks’ advance notice of their schedules, offer remuneration to employees if their schedules are changed, and provide minimum periods of rest in between shifts. The Ordinance is similar to ordinances adopted in New York, San Francisco, and other large cities.  It is scheduled to become effective on January 1, 2020.

Some key facts about the Ordinance:

  • The Ordinance applies only to “Covered Employers,” which consist of retail, hospitality and food services establishments that have 250 or more employees and 30 or more locations worldwide. This definition includes chain establishments and franchises associated with a franchisor or network of franchises.
  • Upon hire, all Covered Employers must provide employees with a written, good faith estimate of the employee’s work schedule. The Covered Employer must provide a revised schedule when the employee’s availability changes or the Covered Employer’s business needs change. The employee’s work schedule must include the following information: (1) The average number of work hours the employee can be expected to work over a typical 90 day period; (2) Whether the employee will be expected to work any on-call shifts; and (3) A subset of days/times/shifts that the employee typically will work.
  • Covered Employers also must provide employees with written work schedules. When the law takes effect in 2020, the schedules must be provided at least 10 days in advance of the schedule start date. Covered Employers will be required to provide 14 days advance notice beginning in 2021.
  • An employee may decline to work hours or additional shifts not included in the posted work schedule.
  • The Ordinance requires “Predictability Pay.” Predictability Pay is a monetary payment made by a Covered Employer to an employee as compensation for making changes to the employee’s work schedule. Predictability Pay is in addition to any other wages earned by the employee for actual work performed.
  • Covered Employers must pay one hour of “Predictability Pay” at the employee’s regular rate of pay if the Covered Employer adds time to a work shift or changes the date, time, or location of the shift, even if there is no loss of hours. Additional Predictability Pay is required if a Covered Employer subtracts hours from a regular shift or a regular shift is cancelled. If the employer makes changes to a posted schedule within 24 hours of initially posting the schedule, then no Predictability Pay will be required.
  • Employees may decline, without penalty, any work hours that are scheduled or otherwise occur less than nine hours after the end of the previous shift. An employee working a shift that begins less than nine hours after the end of the previous shift must be compensated $40 (in addition to their normal wages) for each such shift.
  • Covered Employers must offer work shifts to existing employees before utilizing subcontractors or hiring new employees from an external applicant pool. The work must remain available to existing employees for at least 72 hours (unless less time is necessary in order to complete the work).
  • As with most statutes, Covered Employers must post notice of the requirements of the Fair Workweek Ordinance. It is expected that the City will provide a model notice before the Ordinance’s effective date.
  • Covered Employers must be careful to maintain records (including but not limited to good faith estimates of work schedules provided to employees at the commencement of employment, work schedules, and payroll records that specify the amount of Predictability Pay paid to employees) for a period of at least two years in order to demonstrate compliance with the Ordinance.
  • At the request of any employee, a Covered Employer must provide employees with work schedules for all employees at the particular location for any previous week in the past two years, including the originally posted and any modified versions of work schedules.
  • Employees will have a private right of action under the Ordinance, and upon prevailing in such an action, can recover the full amount of any unpaid compensation, including Predictability Pay, and an equal amount as liquidated damages up to a maximum of $2,000. Employees will also be able to recover attorneys’ fees and costs.We expect that the agency charged with enforcing the Ordinance will issue implementing regulations prior to the Ordinance’s effective date. While the Ordinance does not take effect until 2020, the Ordinance is likely to impose significant administrative burdens and costs on Covered Employers. Covered Employers should work with experienced employment law counsel to minimize the burden and begin to take steps to prepare for implementation of the Ordinance.