State addresses employee shift scheduling

ALBANY--Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday, Nov. 13 the state labor department is advancing regulations on "just in time," "call-in" or "on-call" scheduling, common practices that allow employers to schedule or cancel workers' shifts just hours before or even after they start. These practices can leave workers scrambling to find child care and force them to miss appointments, classes or important commitments. This affects workers in retail and other service sectors and can cost them hours and pay they had already budgeted. Once finalized, these scheduling protections will apply statewide.
"In New York, we have achieved nation-leading success in workers' rights, and we will continue to fight to protect all hard-working New Yorkers," Cuomo said. "The regulations advanced by the Department of Labor will increase fairness for workers and allow employers to retain flexibility."
In September, Cuomo directed State Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon and the Department of Labor to hold public hearings on the issue of employee scheduling. After four hearings and many hours of testimony from workers, advocates, industry experts and business owners, the Department of Labor developed these regulations to give workers a voice in their own schedules. The state says businesses will retain the flexibility they need to run successfully.
For workers, the regulations include:
• Establish a 14-day advance notice standard for scheduling and provide two hours' extra pay for last-minute assignments.
• Expand existing reporting pay of at least four hours to now include last-minute cancellations and assignments and on-call shifts requiring workers to be on stand-by to come into work.
For employers, the regulations:
• Provide flexibility by allowing new shifts to be offered without a premium during the first two weeks of a worker's employment, permitting worker shift swaps and substitutions without penalty and allowing for weather related cancellations without penalty with 24-hours' notice.
• Impose no blanket prohibitions or mandates--employers retain control over their scheduling practices and those who provide predictable scheduling will see no additional compliance costs.
The full regulation can be viewed at www.labor.ny.gov/schedulingregs.