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Note: This feature actively rolling out across our product. To sign up for our beta feature programs and to give guidance on what you would like to see, please fill in this form. |
- What is Fair Workweek?
- Who is covered by the Los Angeles Fair Workweek Law?
- What are Fair Work Week Requirements and how can Deputy help?
What is Fair Workweek?
Several large cities and one state in the U.S. have enacted Fair Workweek laws. The intent behind these laws is to provide shift workers with predictable, stable work schedules and protect workers from unfair scheduling practices.
These laws are complex and, in the event a business does not comply, they may be liable for substantial fines and penalties. Fortunately, Deputy is here to help businesses with tools to aid in compliance with the laws.
You can find more information here:
Deputy is actively developing more Fair Work Week related features.
To sign up for our Beta feature programs and to give guidance on what you would like to see, please fill in this form.
Who is covered by Los Angeles Fair Workweek?
In order to be covered by these laws, a business must :
- Identify as a retail business;
- Have at least 300 employees globally;
- Exercise control (directly or indirectly) over the wages, hours or working conditions of a covered employee.
These laws then apply to any employee of such businesses who works at least two hours within the city of Los Angeles supporting retail operations.
What are Fair Work Week Requirements and how can Deputy help?
Advanced notice for scheduling
Fair Workweek requires managers to provide employees with work schedules in advance. For Los Angeles businesses, this has to be 14 days in advance of the work period.
How can Deputy help?
Deputy allows managers to schedule shifts well into the future - and when published, employees will always have access to their shifts, allowing them to plan ahead.
Predictability pay for schedule changes
Fair Work Week laws require employees to be paid premium payments in addition to their normal wages for changes to the published work schedule. This is aimed at rewarding employees who are flexible, and as a disincentive to businesses for making last-minute changes.
For Los Angeles, predictability pay is paid according to the following rules:
If hours are increased or changed within 14 days from the first day of the work period, the employee is entitled to one additional hour of pay at their base rate per change.
If hours are reduced within 14 days from the first day of the work period, the employee is entitled to the amount of hours reduced, payable at half their base rate.
How can Deputy help?
Deputy pay rates can take the stress out of manually calculating premium payments by automatically calculating premiums based on changes made to the schedule, allowing direct export straight to your payroll provider.
This library rate is available in both premium and enterprise accounts in the pay rates section of your team member's profile.
For more information on exactly how this calculates premiums, see Los Angeles Fair Workweek pay rate.
Right to rest (Clopening)
"Clopening" shifts are shifts where an employee works late one night and then works early the next morning.
Los Angeles’s covered employees are required to have at least 10 hours of rest between shifts. Clopening shifts are banned unless the employee consents to work the shift and is paid extra pay called clopening pay.
How can Deputy help?
Deputy has 'Stress Profiles' that can allow you to trigger warnings that let you know when you are about to schedule a clopening shift, which you can then use as a warning to ask your employees for consent. Deputy can also recognize when a clopening shift has been worked and automatically pay out a premium.
For more information and guidance on how to set these up, see Set up stress profiles.
Schedule change consent
Subject to limited exceptions, employers cannot add time to an employee’s schedule without their consent within 14 days from the start of the work period. Consent must be 100% voluntary.
This includes situations such as:
- adding time to a shift or
- changing the day, time or location of a shift or
- requests to stay more than 15 minutes late to cover rush or
- request to cover for another employee who called out sick.
Consent must be documented in writing, or electronically and must reference the specific shift they are consenting to change.
How can Deputy help?
Deputy allows the creation of Custom Shift Questions, that can be used to capture consent ahead of time for changed shifts, when an employee clocks in early or late, or to attest to missed meal and rest breaks. These get recorded in the timesheet for audit purposes.
If you have selected the Los Angeles Fair Workweek pay rate, we automatically provide the following attestation questions:
- Unscheduled Shift
- Early In
- Early Out
- Late In
- Late Out
Employers can also proactively capture consent in the schedule by offering the shift to an employee for them to confirm. They can do this through the schedule.
Note: We are actively improving our ability to proactively manage and capture employee consent to schedule changes. To sign up for our beta feature programs and to give guidance on what you would like to see, please fill in this form.
Regular work schedule
The regular work schedule, is aimed at giving employees a set schedule that they can rely on. It must be provided to the employee at the time of hire, and an updated copy must be provided to the employee anytime there is a long-term change to the regular work schedule. Also, the employee must consent before the regular work schedule is reduced by more than 15%.
The regular schedule must include the days, times and locations that an employee can expect to work each week and the total number of hours per week they should expect to work.
It is not lawful for an employer to publish a work schedule that substantially varies from the good-faith estimate without the employee’s advance consent.
How can Deputy help?
Deputy allows you to provision good faith estimates through our regular working hours feature.
This allows you to proactively build in the good-faith estimate into Deputy, which you can then auto schedule in each week through only one click, and then make adjustments from there.
Deputy also provides warnings when employees are over or under scheduled compared to their good faith estimate.
Note: We are actively improving our ability to display the regular schedule to employees. To sign up for our beta feature programs and to give guidance on what you would like to see, please fill in this form.
Missed Meal breaks
Employers of California employees must provide a 30-minute meal period for every 5 hours worked or major fraction thereof. If they fail to do so the employer must pay the Employee one extra hour of pay at the Employee’s regular hourly rate.
If the shift is greater than 5 but less than or equal to 6 hours, employees may waive the meal period. If waived, employees are not entitled to any penalty pay.
How can Deputy help?
Deputy provides two pay rates for Los Angeles, one with the meal break waiver included, one without. It is the employer's responsibility to update the pay rates for each employee.
For employees without the meal break waiver, Deputy will ask an attestation question after they have worked five or more hours in a shift, asking if they have received all of their meal breaks. If they answer that they did not receive their breaks, and did not clock in for the required number of breaks, a meal break premium will be attached to their timesheet automatically. If they answer that they did receive their breaks, no premium will be attached.
For employees with the meal break waiver, Deputy will ask an attestation question after they have worked six or more hours in a shift, asking if they have received all of their meal breaks. If they answer that they did not receive their breaks, and did not clock in for the required number of breaks, a meal break premium will be attached to their timesheet automatically. If they answer that they did receive their breaks, no premium will be attached.
For more information see Break Attestations.
Recordkeeping
Fair Work Week requires key information to be stored for several years that show compliance with the Fair Work Week laws. This includes copies of good faith estimates, rosters, timesheets, consents to schedule changes, records of all schedule changes, records of predictability pay, clopenings and clopening pay, and proof that open shifts were offered to current employees.
How can Deputy help?
Deputy will electronically store most records saved in the system, and in the event of an audit can provide employers with a copy of their records on request. Employers may also create numerous reports within Deputy to provide to auditors.
Note: We are actively improving our Fair Work Week reporting capabilities. To sign up for our beta feature programs and to give guidance on what you would like to see, please fill in this form.