Chicago has enacted an ordinance that will require certain employers to notify employees of their schedules in advance and pay employees when they provide insufficient notice of schedule changes. The ordinance takes effect July 1, 2020.
Note: Safety-net hospitals will have until January 1, 2021 to comply.
Covered Employers:
To be covered by the ordinance:
- The employer must employ 100 or more employees globally (250 or more employees for not-for-profit corporations);
- At least 50 of those employees must be considered covered employees (see below); and
- The employer must be primarily engaged in one of the following covered industries:
Covered Employees:
Under the ordinance, a covered employee is one who:
- Performs work in the capacity of an employee, as distinguished from a contractor, or is a worker for temporary agency who has been on assignment to the employer for 420 hours within an 18-month period;
- Spends most of their work time within the City of Chicago;
- Performs most of their work in a covered industry for that employer; and
- Earns $50,000 or less per year as a salaried employee, or $26.00 or less per hour as an hourly employee (these amounts will be adjusted for inflation).
The number of covered employees will be aggregated if they are employed by members of a single "unitary business group," as defined by state tax law.
New Hire Notice:
At the start of employment, employers must provide every covered employee with a good faith estimate in writing of their projected days and hours of work for the first 90 days of employment.
If an employee requests that the employer modify the projected days and hours of work provided, the employer has the right to accept or reject the request, provided the employer notifies the employee of its determination in writing within three days of the request.
Posting Work Schedule:
Employers must post covered employees' work schedules no later than 10 days before the first day of any new schedule. This deadline increases to 14 days beginning July 1, 2022. The schedule must include the shifts and on-call status of all current covered employees at that worksite. Additionally, it must be posted conspicuously within the workplace and readily accessible and visible to all covered employees or via the usual methods of communication. Additionally, upon written request, the employer must transmit the schedule electronically.
Note: A covered employee who is a victim of domestic or sexual violence, or who has a family or household member who is a victim, may request that their work schedule not be posted or transmitted to other employees.
Schedule Changes:
If changes are made to the schedule prior to the applicable posting deadline (10 days or 14 days), there is no penalty for employers. After the deadline, however, employers must provide extra pay to employees for changes to the schedule (see below). Employees also have the right to refuse any previously unscheduled hours that the employer adds to their schedule after the posting deadline.
Extra Pay for Schedule Changes After Deadline:
If an employer alters an employee's schedule after the posting deadline, the employee must receive an extra hour of pay at their regular rate for each shift in which the employer:
- Adds hours of work;
- Changes the date or time of a work shift with no loss of hours; or
- With more than 24 hours' notice, cancels or subtracts hours from a regular or on-call shift.
If the employer cancels or subtracts hours from a regular or on-call shift with less than 24 hours of notice, the employer must pay the employee 50 percent of their regular rate of pay for any of the scheduled hours that they didn't work because of the change. For example, if an employee's regular rate of pay is $15 per hour and the employer cancels a 4-hour shift with less than 24 hours of notice, the employee would be entitled to $30 for the cancelled shift ($15 x .50 x 4 hours=$30).
Employers must amend the posted work schedule and transmit it to the covered employee in writing within 24 hours of a schedule change.
Exceptions:
The above requirements don't apply to work schedule changes related to:
- Threats to the employer, covered employees, or property;
- Civil authorities recommending that work not begin or continue;
- Public utilities failing to supply electricity, water, or gas, or the sewer system fails to serve the work location;
- Acts of nature (including, but not limited to, flood, earthquake, tornado, or blizzard);
- War, civil unrest, strikes, threats to public safety, or pandemics;
- A mutually agreed upon shift trade or coverage arrangement between covered employees;
- A change that is mutually agreed to by the covered employee and employer and is confirmed in writing;
- A covered employee requesting a shift change; and
- An employer subtracting hours from a work schedule for disciplinary reasons for just cause, provided the employer documents the incident leading to the discipline in writing;
There are also exceptions for banquet events, manufacturing, healthcare employers, and certain other situations. See the text of the ordinance for details.
Offer of Additional Hours:
If an employer needs to fill additional shifts, the employer must first offer additional shifts to existing covered employees if they are qualified to do the work. If existing employees decline the extra work, the shifts must be offered to temporary or seasonal workers who have worked on behalf of the employer for two or more weeks. An employer must not discriminate on the basis of any protected characteristic when distributing additional shifts, and where practical, should then offer additional hours to part-time covered employees.
Note: The law doesn't require any employer to schedule employees to work hours that are required to be paid at a premium rate.
Rest Between Shifts and Premium Pay:
Covered employees have the right to decline work schedule hours that are less than 10 hours after the end of the previous day's shift. When they do work a shift that begins less than 10 hours after the end of the previous day's shift, they are entitled to be paid at a rate of 1.25 times their regular rate of pay for that shift.
Employer Notice:
Employers must post a notice advising covered employees of their rights under the ordinance.
Employers must also provide a notice with each covered employee's first paycheck on or after July 1, 2020.
Recordkeeping and Employee Access:
Covered employers must maintain for at least three years, or for the duration of any pending claim, civil action, or investigation, whichever is longer, a record of each covered employee's:
- Name;
- Hours worked;
- Pay rate; and
- Records necessary to demonstrate compliance with the ordinance, including but not limited to:
Employers must provide each covered employee a copy of their records upon reasonable request.
Retaliation Prohibited:
Employers are prohibited from taking adverse action against covered employees for exercising their rights under the ordinance.
Compliance Recommendations:
Covered employers should read the ordinance in full and ensure compliance by July 1, 2020. Anyone involved in scheduling employees should be trained on the ordinance as well.
Please contact your dedicated service professional with any questions.