Predictive scheduling laws, often called Fair Workweek laws, require certain employers to post schedules in advance (usually 14 days), pay a premium when they change those schedules on short notice, give workers a right to decline back-to-back closing and opening shifts, and offer extra hours to current staff before hiring. There is no federal law. Oregon is the only state with one, and the rest are city or county ordinances, including New York City, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Berkeley, Emeryville and Evanston. Coverage depends on your industry, your headcount and where your employees physically work.
On this page
Each ordinance has its own definitions, but most Fair Workweek laws are built from the same five parts:
Most laws also ban retaliation and require a poster and compliance records.
This simplified overview is based on official government pages as of 2026. Read each linked page for definitions and exceptions.
| Jurisdiction | Covered employers (summary) | Notice period | Key pay and rest rules | Official page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York City (fast food) | Fast food chains with 30 or more establishments nationally, including franchisees | 14 days | Flat-dollar premiums per change, higher for shorter notice and reduced hours. Clopenings (under 11 hours) need written consent plus $100. Just-cause rules apply. | NYC DCWP |
| New York City (retail) | Retail employers in NYC (see DCWP for the headcount threshold) | 72 hours | No on-call shifts; no cancelling, or adding without consent, inside 72 hours. | NYC DCWP |
| Chicago, IL | Seven industries incl. retail, restaurants, hotels, healthcare, warehouse, manufacturing, building services; generally 100+ employees globally (restaurants 250+ and 30+ locations). Only employees under income limits adjusted each July 1. | 14 days | 1 hour for changes inside 14 days; at least 50% pay for hours cancelled within 24 hours. Right to decline shifts under 10 hours apart; worked shift paid 1.25x. Revised rules effective June 1, 2026. | Chicago OLS |
| Evanston, IL | 100+ employees globally in hospitality, retail, warehouse, manufacturing or building services; restaurants 200+ and 30+ locations | 14 days | Tiered predictability pay, larger inside 24 hours. Right to decline shifts under 11 hours apart; premium if worked. In effect since January 1, 2024. | City of Evanston |
| Oregon (statewide) | Retail, hospitality and food service employers with 500+ employees worldwide | 14 days | 1 hour for added or moved time; half pay for cut hours. 10-hour rest without consent; hours inside it paid 1.5x. Voluntary standby list rules. | Oregon BOLI |
| Seattle, WA | Retail and food service with 500+ employees worldwide; full-service restaurants with 500+ employees and 40+ locations | 14 days | 1 hour for added hours; half pay for hours lost or unused on-call. Under 10 hours between shifts only with consent, paid 1.5x. Employee swaps excepted. | Seattle OLS |
| San Francisco, CA | Formula retail with 40+ locations worldwide and 20+ employees in SF, plus some janitorial and security contractors | 2 weeks | 1 hour for changes with under 7 days’ notice; 2 or 4 hours with under 24 hours’ notice. Offer hours to part-timers first. | SF OLSE |
| Philadelphia, PA | Retail, hospitality and food service with 250+ employees and 30+ locations worldwide | 14 days | 1 hour for added or moved time; at least half pay for cut hours. Under 9 hours between shifts needs consent and $40. | City of Philadelphia |
| Los Angeles (city) | Retail employers with 300+ employees globally | 14 days | 1 hour for added hours or changes; half pay for cut hours or unused on-call. Clopenings need written consent; under 10 hours paid 1.5x. | LA Office of Wage Standards |
| Los Angeles County (unincorporated areas) | Retail employers with 300+ employees worldwide | 14 days | Predictability pay; 10-hour rest without consent; good-faith estimate; hours offered to current staff. Effective July 1, 2025. | LA County DCBA |
| Berkeley, CA | 10+ in Berkeley and 56+ globally in listed industries (restaurants 100+) | 14 days | 1 hour for most changes; cuts inside 24 hours earn up to 4 hours. Right to decline shifts under 11 hours apart; worked hours paid 1.5x. | City of Berkeley |
| Emeryville, CA | Retail with 56+ employees globally; fast food with 56+ globally and 20+ in Emeryville | 14 days | Predictability pay per the city’s published structure; see the city’s regulations and FAQ. | City of Emeryville |
A note on Chicago: the hourly and salary limits that decide which employees are covered change every July 1. Check the Chicago Office of Labor Standards page for the figures that apply now instead of relying on a number from last year. Other cities update their rules too, so verify details at the source.
The most effective control is structural. Publish schedules far enough ahead that the notice window rarely becomes a problem. A rolling cycle that finalizes weeks three and four while weeks one and two are locked works well. Collect availability and time-off requests before you draft, not after you post. See shift scheduling best practices for forecasting tips.
Chicago’s 2026 rules also require schedules to be time-stamped when posted.
Whether a premium is owed usually depends on who asked for the change. In most jurisdictions, employee-initiated changes do not trigger predictability pay. Examples include asking for time off, leaving early for a personal reason, or volunteering for an open shift in writing. Changes the employer initiates usually do. NYC’s fast food FAQ requires written proof the employee initiated the change, and manager-initiated requests for volunteers are not exempt. For each change, record:
Treat consent as informed and voluntary. Chicago’s FAQ says employees must know they could decline and receive predictability pay.
Clopening rules differ by city: 9 hours in Philadelphia, 10 in Chicago, Seattle, Oregon and Los Angeles, and 11 in NYC fast food, Evanston and Berkeley. Set your scheduling rules to the strictest standard that applies to each location, and flag any pair of shifts that falls inside that gap before you publish. If an employee agrees to the shift, store their written consent with the schedule. A closing shift that runs long can shrink the gap, so compare actual punch times from your time clock with the next scheduled start.
Many jurisdictions exempt voluntary, employee-to-employee shift trades from predictability pay. Seattle, San Francisco, Berkeley and NYC fast food all address this, and Philadelphia exempts swaps when both employees consent in writing. The exemption usually depends on the swap being truly employee-initiated and documented. Berkeley notes rest-period premiums still apply if a swap creates a short turnaround. A structured shift swap approval workflow creates a written record of who requested the swap, who accepted it and who approved it.
Before you post a job ad or call a staffing agency, check whether the access-to-hours rule applies. Expect a written offer posted for a set time (72 hours in Philadelphia and Los Angeles, three days in Seattle) and a record of who accepted.
Retention periods vary. Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Berkeley require at least three years, and Philadelphia requires two. Keep posted schedules, change logs, consents, good-faith estimates, offers of additional hours and premium payments.
Compliance is mostly consistent process and good records. Employee scheduling software like EZTime can help you collect availability before you build the schedule, draft shifts weeks ahead with AI shift scheduling, manage shift swaps and PTO requests in one place, and send overtime and break alerts. Hours are captured through a GPS mobile time clock app or NFC tap-to-clock-in, and payroll-ready exports give your payroll team clean data. For restaurant-specific tips, see our guide to restaurant scheduling. EZTime is a scheduling and timekeeping tool. It does not calculate jurisdiction-specific premiums or guarantee legal compliance, so confirm your policies with counsel. Pricing starts at $2 per employee per month, and you can start a 14-day free trial.
List every worksite address and confirm which city, county or state ordinance applies
Confirm your industry classification and employee and location counts against each threshold
For Chicago, check the current income thresholds each July
Give written good-faith estimates to new hires, and to current employees on request where required
Post schedules at least 14 days ahead (72 hours for NYC retail) and record when they were posted
Log every schedule change with who initiated it and when
Get written, voluntary consent where the law requires it, and never require blanket waivers
Flag shifts that fall inside the local rest window before you publish
Set a written shift swap policy and document every swap
Offer additional hours to qualified current employees before you hire
Pay premiums on time and itemize them
Keep records for the longest applicable retention period
Build and publish schedules in advance, let employees request swaps in the app and keep a record of every change.
No. The Fair Labor Standards Act does not require advance notice of schedules or schedule change premium pay. Oregon is the only state with a statewide law; the rest are local ordinances.
Schedule change premium pay, also called predictability pay, is extra pay owed when an employer changes a posted schedule inside the notice window. It is often one hour at the regular rate, or half pay for cut hours; NYC fast food uses flat-dollar amounts.
Most of them don’t. Thresholds are often 100, 300 or 500 employees globally, but Berkeley and Emeryville start at 56 for many industries.
Often, yes. Seattle, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Berkeley and NYC fast food all exempt voluntary employee-to-employee trades when they are documented, and Philadelphia requires written consent from both employees.
A clopening is a close followed by an open the next morning. Employees can usually decline shifts starting within 9 to 11 hours of the last one, and premiums apply if they agree, such as 1.25x in Chicago, 1.5x in Seattle and Oregon, a $40 payment in Philadelphia, or $100 in NYC fast food.
Generally they cannot waive them in advance. Many laws allow written, voluntary consent to specific changes, and some allow union contracts to waive provisions. Chicago’s 2026 rules let employees revoke rest-period consent at any time.
How time clock rounding works under the FLSA and when it becomes risky.
Meal and rest break timing, waivers and premium pay in California.
The 40-hour workweek, the regular rate and worked overtime examples.
Accrual methods, caps, carryover and payout rules for PTO policies.
Download the free Excel template and learn how to fill it out.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Predictive scheduling laws, thresholds and premium amounts change, and each ordinance has its own definitions and exceptions. Check the official government sources linked above and consult an employment attorney about your specific situation.