Posted May 19th, 2015 in Legal Insights

Employers Gearing Up For New Retail Workers’ Bill of Rights

In early July 2015, San Francisco will become the first municipality in the country to implement measures known collectively as the Retail Workers’ Bill of Rights, which sets new requirements for larger retail employers (including hotels, restaurants, movie theaters, and certain financial institutions). New labor rules for retail employers include requirements to provide scheduling notices at least two weeks in advance; offer more hours to existing part-time employees before hiring new workers or using contract labor; and under certain circumstances, provide two to four hours of pay to an employee when they are required to be “on call” for a shift but that shift is canceled with less than 24 hours’ notice. Lisa Schmid, a labor and employment attorney with Nilan Johnson Lewis, says that larger companies, especially, should consider designing their systems and developing strategies for compliance to handle these new requirements on a national basis, not just in San Francisco. “Other areas of the country are likely to follow this path eventually,” says Schmid. “In fact, legislation on reliable work scheduling and time pay requirements is already being considered in several states, including Minnesota, Maryland, Oregon, Indiana, and Michigan, and that list—and the list of municipalities who adopt similar measures—will grow.” Contact Lisa Schmid at (612) 305-7549 or lschmid@nilanjohnson.com, or Angela Deeney at (651) 789-1277 or angela@kohnstamm.com.