Predictive Scheduling Mandates Are On the Agenda in Blue States Across the County

States controlled by Democrats are much more likely to enact “employer mandates,” which are laws that spell out in statute certain aspects of the employer-employee relationship, whereas states controlled by Republicans tend to lean on the free market and allow employers to make those decisions on their own. 

But after years of effort by progressives, Democratic trifecta states have reached an inflection point when it comes to employer mandates. These states have mostly enacted mandates such as $15 per hour minimum wages, paid sick leave mandates, paid family and medical leave insurance programs, enhanced pay equity and sexual harassment laws, and various other employment-related legislation in recent years. The two exceptions here are the new Democratic trifectas in Michigan and Minnesota, where, after years of Republican control, lawmakers are likely to take up traditional wage and paid leave mandates.

Therefore, as we keep an eye on potential employer mandates, we’re on the lookout for novel approaches in Democratic trifectas (e.g., California’s fast food council). One of these approaches is “predictive scheduling” (also called “restrictive scheduling” or “mandatory scheduling”),  which, while not a new policy, appears to be on the rise at the state level. San Francisco passed the first-in-the-nation “Retail Workers’ Bill of Rights” mandate in 2014, which requires employers to provide employees with two weeks advance notice of their work schedules. And while other localities followed San Francisco’s lead, Oregon has been the only state to enact a statewide “predictive scheduling” law, passed in 2017, which requires larger employers to give employees in retail, hospitality, or food service industries seven days' notice of their work schedules.

That may change this year. We’re tracking 34 predictive scheduling bills in 16 states already this legislative session. In Colorado, progressive lawmakers are backing the "Fair Workweek Employment Standards" (CO HB 1118), which would require employers in restaurants, food and beverage manufacturing facilities, and retail jobs with 250 employees or more to post work schedules two weeks in advance. The bill would allow employees to request changes to their schedules and requires businesses that cancel shifts last minute to pay employees. Any changes to an employee's schedule would require written employee consent. Colorado is one of six states that we’ve rated as having the highest likelihood of enacting new employer mandates in 2023, in a report prepared for clients earlier this year. 

Of course, any politically charged state policy wouldn’t be complete without a response from states controlled by the opposite party. Republicans in nine states have enacted preemption laws that prohibit localities in those states from enacting their own predictive scheduling ordinances. 

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