Last year, the County of Los Angeles enacted the Fair WorkWeek Ordinance, which will take effect on July 1, 2025. It joins other municipalities, including the cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Chicago, and the State of Oregon in implementing similar regulations related to predictive scheduling.

The LA ordinance applies to retailers and grocers with 300 or more employees nationwide (including those employed through temporary staffing agencies and by franchisees) who work at least two hours every workweek in the County’s unincorporated areas, qualify for minimum wage, and are assigned to a primary work location and duties that support retail stores or warehouses.

Employer-Compliance Requirements

The LA ordinance imposes the following requirements on employers:

• Provide workers with a written, good-faith estimate of their schedule before hiring and within 10 days of a current employee’s request. Although the estimate is not a binding contract or offer, if the employee’s actual hours, days, location, or shifts worked substantially deviate from the good-faith estimate, the employer must have a documented, legitimate business reason, unknown at the time of providing the good faith estimate, for the “substantial deviation” (as defined in the ordinance).
• Allow employees to make requests for certain hours, times, or locations of work. Employers may deny the request if they notify the employee, in writing, for the reason for the denial.
• Provide employees with their work schedules at least 14 calendar days before the first day of the schedule and allow employees to decline any hours not originally on the schedule.
• Offer additional work hours and shifts to current (qualified) employees at least three days before hiring new employees.
• Provide “predictability pay” or premium pay for work schedule changes as specified under certain circumstances.
• Provide employees with at least 10 hours of rest between shifts unless the employer obtains written consent from the employee to work a shift that begins less than 10 hours after the previous shift. The employer also must pay the employee time and one-half for each hour of the second shift not separated by at least 10 hours.
• Post the “Notice of Retail Employee’s Workweek Rights” in a conspicuous place at any workplace or job site where any employee works.
• Maintain specified records for current and former employees for three years, including work schedules, written offers to employees for additional work hours and written responses, written correspondence regarding work schedule changes, good faith estimates of work schedules, and payroll records.

Employer Penalties

The LA ordinance contains a schedule of employer penalties, ranging from $500 to $1,000 per violation, and a detailed description of how the penalties are calculated. The ordinance also specifies which penalties are payable to the employee and which are payable to the County.

What’s Next

Retail employers in unincorporated areas of the County should ensure their scheduling practices are compliant with the ordinance by July 1.