HS: Fair Work Week

Overview

Fair Work Week laws are labor regulations adopted in several jurisdictions that aim to provide covered employees with greater schedule predictability and advance notice of working hours. These laws commonly include requirements related to advance schedule posting, compensation for last-minute schedule changes, and minimum rest periods between shifts.

HotSchedules provides several features that organizations can configure to support scheduling practices associated with these regulations. This article provides an overview of the available functionality and links to individual feature articles for additional information and configuration guidance.

Fair Work Week requirements vary by jurisdiction and may depend on employee role, industry, employer size, work location, shift length, schedule-change timing, collective bargaining agreements, or other factors. Use the jurisdiction information below as a starting point and work with your organization’s legal or compliance team to determine which requirements apply. Once the applicable requirements have been identified, use the linked HotSchedules guidance to configure the relevant features.

Federal law generally does not require employers to provide advance schedule notice, good faith estimates, predictability pay, or rest-between-shift premiums. These requirements are generally established at the state, city, county, or local level.

Note: The functionality described in this article can be configured regardless of whether a specific Fair Work Week requirement applies to the organization or whether a jurisdiction is listed in the compliance coverage section below.

Compliance Coverage by Jurisdiction

The table below identifies jurisdictions from states marked Yes in the Fair Work Week column of the master Scheduling table on the HotSchedules Compliance Playbook.

Note: Oregon is currently the only state listed here with a statewide Fair Work Week or predictive scheduling rule. The other states listed have city- or county-level rules that may apply only in specific jurisdictions.

Common terminology may vary by jurisdiction and may include Good Faith Estimate, Regular Schedule, Advance Schedule Notice, Right to Rest, Clopen rules, Access to Hours, or Schedule Change Protections. Coverage may depend on industry, employer size, employee classification, work location, and other factors. This information is intended as a starting point for identifying potentially applicable requirements; customers should confirm coverage with their organization’s legal or compliance team.

Fair Work Week Features

Fair Work Week requirements may involve several scheduling and pay concepts supported by different HotSchedules features. Not every feature applies in every jurisdiction. The sections below provide an overview of related HotSchedules functionality and links to detailed configuration guidance.

• Good Faith Estimate & Regular Schedule
• Voluntary Standby List
• Advance Notice to Schedule
• Pay Exceptions: Predictability Pay & Right to Rest
• Punch Exception Management & Acknowledgments

Good Faith Estimate & Regular Schedule

Some Fair Work Week jurisdictions require employers to provide employees with information about the schedules they can generally expect to work. Depending on the jurisdiction, this may involve a Good Faith Estimate, Regular Schedule, or similar requirement.

A Good Faith Estimate generally describes expected hours, days, shifts, or work locations. A Regular Schedule establishes the recurring shifts and hours an employee is generally expected to work each week. These are related scheduling concepts, but the applicable requirements vary by jurisdiction.

HotSchedules provides functionality to support both Good Faith Estimates and Regular Schedules. Customers should confirm which requirement applies to each location and use the corresponding configuration guidance below to configure the appropriate functionality.

For additional information and configuration guidance, refer to HS: Regular Schedules and HS: Good Faith Estimate.

Voluntary Standby List

The Voluntary Standby List (VSL) is an Oregon-specific feature that allows covered employers to manage certain schedule changes under Oregon predictive scheduling requirements.

The VSL allows certain schedule edits within the applicable advance notice period when hours are added, provided the requirements for use of the Voluntary Standby List are met. Because the Voluntary Standby List is Oregon-specific, organizations with locations in Oregon should confirm whether the applicable predictive scheduling requirements cover their business before configuring or using this feature.

For additional information and configuration guidance, refer to HS: Voluntary Standby List

Advance Notice to Schedule

Advance Notice to Schedule may apply in jurisdictions that require schedules to be posted a certain number of days before the schedule period or shift begins.

In HotSchedules, an Advance Notice threshold can be configured at the store level or through applicable Pay Exception rules in the Above Store Console (ASC). ASC configuration allows different advance notice periods to be defined by legislative area.

When a posted schedule is changed within the configured notice period, HotSchedules can prompt managers to document whether the change was voluntary or involuntary and provide a reason for the adjustment. These schedule edits and associated details are captured in the Schedule Audit Report for reporting and review.

Advance notice periods are generally measured from the Work Week Start. For New York City rules, the notice period is measured from the Shift Start Time to support tiered Predictability Pay based on how close to the start of the shift a schedule change occurs.

Customers should confirm the applicable advance notice period for each location before configuring the corresponding threshold in HotSchedules.

For additional information and configuration guidance, refer to HS Time and Attendance: Advance Notice of Schedule

Pay Exceptions: Predictability Pay & Right to Rest

Predictability Pay may apply when a covered schedule change is made after the applicable schedule notice period, depending on the jurisdiction, timing and reason for the change, and whether an exception applies.

Right to Rest may apply when an employee is scheduled to work shifts without the required rest period between them. This is sometimes referred to as a clopen rule.

HotSchedules Pay Exception rules can be configured to support Predictability Pay and Right to Rest requirements and apply the appropriate pay adjustments based on configured conditions.

Customers should confirm the applicable timing, pay, and exception conditions for each location before configuring the corresponding Pay Exception rules in HotSchedules.

For additional information and configuration guidance, refer to HS ASC: Pay Exceptions - Predictability Pay and Right to Rest Rules

Punch Exception Management & Acknowledgments

HotSchedules Exception Management allows managers to review exceptions created by schedule changes or differences between an employee's scheduled and actual worked time. Managers can designate applicable exceptions as Voluntary or Involuntary based on whether the change was initiated or requested by the employee or initiated by management.

Employees may also be required to acknowledge schedule edits, work variances, and punch adjustments. Acknowledgment confirms that the employee has reviewed the reason associated with the change; it does not approve or deny the exception.

Documenting the reason for a schedule change or work variance may be important when determining whether Predictability Pay or other Fair Work Week requirements apply.

Where Fair Work Week requirements apply, organizations should determine how schedule changes and work variances should be classified and use Exception Management to document and review the applicable exceptions.

For additional information and configuration guidance, refer to HS Time and Attendance: Punch Record Exceptions Page