The Fair Work Week Act takes effect on July 1, 2020. It provides a sort of “Bill of Rights” for Chicago employees in seven covered industries: Building Services, Healthcare, Hotels, Manufacturing, Restaurants, Retail, and Warehouse Services. Here is what you need to know as an employer in Chicago.
Who’s Covered?
The Fair Work Week Act covers employees who earn less than $50,000 per year or $26 per hour working in the covered industries above. Employers with fewer than 100 employees worldwide are exempt.
If the new regulations affect your company, you may be wondering exactly what you need to do. Here are the relevant provisions:
Initial Estimate of Work Schedule
New hires should be given your best good faith estimate of the number of hours they will work and where. If you have multiple facilities, you will need to provide a reasonable prediction of what portion of their time will be spent at each and on which days.
Advance Notice of Work Schedule and Predictability Pay
Employers are required to post work schedules covering at least one week at a time. Once posted, you can change an employee’s schedule until 10 days before the first day of the new schedule (through June 30, 2022) or 14 days before (starting July 1, 2022). After that, Predictability Pay rules will apply.
For schedule changes that add hours or do not change the total number of hours in the employee’s schedule, you will owe one hour of additional pay per affected shift. If you cut hours, you will owe one hour of additional pay per impacted shift if you provide more than 24 hours notice, or half the employee’s hourly rate for hours not worked if you provide less than 24 hours notice.
If you need to add work hours, you are required to offer them to covered employees or temporary employees who have been with you for at least two weeks before offering them to those who are not covered by the Act. Note that covered employees are entitled to decline the additional hours.
Right to Rest
Covered employees have the option to accept a shift that begins less than 10 hours after the end of the previous shift, but they must do so in writing. They are then entitled to pay at 1.25 times their normal rate for the duration of that shift. If the shift puts the employee into overtime, regular overtime pay of 1.5 times the regular rate applies.
Alternative Staffing Is Here to Help!
Confused by the new regulations? Need to bring on some additional help? Alternative Staffing is here for you throughout the Chicagoland area. We take pride in our ongoing client relationships, and we offer fully vetted candidates for both skilled and general labor positions. Contact us today or call your local Alternative Staffing office to learn more. We’re excited to work with you!
