DeLauro, Warren Reintroduce Schedules That Work Act

Today, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) reintroduced the Schedules That Work Act. This legislation would help ensure that employees have more certainty about their work schedules and incomes. It addresses unstable, unpredictable, and opaque scheduling practices, like placing workers “on-call” with no guarantee of work hours, scheduling them for “split shifts” of non-consecutive hours, sending working home early without pay when demand is low, and punishing workers who request schedule changes. 

“In today’s economy, the reality of most working people is that they live paycheck to paycheck,” said Congresswoman DeLauro. “They need economic security, and the peace of mind that the hours they work any given week will pay them enough to make ends meet and provide for themselves and their families. That is why I am proud to join my colleague Senator Warren in reintroducing the Schedules That Work Act so we can protect workers from abusive scheduling practices and ensure that all hardworking Americans achieve stability and security in their jobs.”

“Harmful scheduling practices make it a nightmare for hourly workers – many of whom are parents of young children – to arrange child care, feed their families, and pay the bills,” Senator Warren said. “I’m proud to join Congresswoman DeLauro on the Schedules That Work Act because workers need to regain control over their work schedules to build economic security for themselves and their families.” 

“When workers don’t know when or how much they’ll work each week, it becomes impossible to make a budget, secure reliable child care, schedule doctor’s appointments, or otherwise plan their lives,” said Emily Martin, National Women’s Law Center Vice President for Education & Workplace Justice. “But for millions of people—especially women and people of color—this instability is a daily reality due to employer scheduling practices that ignore workers’ needs, and this is particularly true for part-time workers. The Schedules That Work Act and the Part-Time Worker Bill of Rights will change this dynamic, granting working people more control over their work hours and creating more stability for families and employers alike.” 

“At Amazon, I work a backbreaking job for poor pay with an unpredictable schedule. My hours are often cut when the company ‘flexes down’ my shift, and it’s difficult to make ends meet and provide for my family. I have two daughters and four grandchildren who I lose out on spending precious time with because of my erratic schedule. But I’m not the only one. For millions of Americans, this is their reality,” said United for Respect leader and Amazon warehouse worker Karen Crawford. “Workers across the country are facing a crisis. We deserve predictable schedules and real respect on the job. With these bills in Congress, hope is now on the horizon, and we have an opportunity to change the lives of millions of people by giving them a voice in their schedules and improving their economic security.”

“Through our free and confidential legal helpline, we are constantly hearing from workers who are subjected to unpredictable and unfair scheduling practices, resulting in a lack of adequate pay, hours, and benefits that make caring for themselves and loved ones and staying afloat impossible,” saidCo-Founder and Co-President of A Better Balance Sherry Leiwant. “In particular, unfair scheduling practices particularly impact families with children and younger workers because it is nearly impossible to arrange child care or pursue educational opportunities that can lead to advancement when schedules are unpredictable. Low wage workers and workers of color in industries like retail, food service and building maintenance where employers commonly post schedules with little notice, make last minute shift changes, vary schedules wildly from week-to-week, and require employees to be on call are especially affected. At the same time, part-time workers, many of whom work full-time hours by piecing together several jobs or who work part-time so they can provide care to their families are too often treated like second class workers, paid less and deprived of benefits like health insurance and paid leave. The Schedules That Work Act and Part Time Workers Bill of Rights—reintroduced in Congress today—would extend a lifeline to workers and improve the well-being of families by giving employees more of a say in their work schedules and ensuring part-time workers get the pay and benefits they deserve. We thank Senator Warren, Representative DeLauro, and Representative Schakowsky for their leadership on this legislation and continued commitment to this country's working families."

“Our members have fought and organized tirelessly for workers who desperately need job security and fair workweeks that mean stable and predictable work schedules, part-time parity, and stable incomes in our communities across the country. We’re thrilled that Senator Elizabeth Warren is throwing her political weight along with Representatives Rosa DeLauro and Jan Schakowsky behind two bills to bring these vital protections to workers throughout the U.S.” Analilia Mejia, Co-Executive Director of the Center for Popular Democracy.

Few workplaces provide the stability and security workers need. Often, workers experience last-minute shift cancellations that deprive them of vital income and work "clopening" shifts that leave little time to commute and rest between shifts.

The Schedules That Work Act curbs these harmful practices by giving workers a voice in their schedules and helping people meet their responsibilities at work and at home. This legislation protects workers who ask for schedule changes from retaliation, and it requires employers to consider their requests. For retail, food service, and cleaning occupations, it requires employers to provide schedules two weeks in advance. The legislation also provides compensation to these employees when their schedules change abruptly, or they are assigned to particularly difficult shifts, including split shifts and call-in shifts.

The bill also expands these same protections to hospitality and warehouse workers, and establishes a right to rest between shifts – protecting workers from being forced to work a closing shift one night and the opening shift the next day – and compensating them adequately if they voluntarily do so. The bill also requires employers to compensate employees if schedules are not posted two weeks in advance, or if there are changes to the schedule within the two-week period.

The Schedules That Work Act is endorsed bv 9to5,  A Better Balance, Action for Children,  AFL-CIO,  African American Health Alliance, All-Options, American Association of University Women, American Federation of Teachers, Americans for Democratic Action (ADA), Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance,  AFL-CIO, BreastfeedLA, Caring Across Generations, Catch Fire Movement, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), Center for Popular Democracy, CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers, CenterLink: The Community of LGBTQ Centers, Chicago Foundation for Women, Child Care Aware of America, Children's Defense Fund, Citizen Action of New York, Coalition for Social Justice, Coalition of Labor Union Women,  AFL-CIO, Coalition on Human Needs, Colorado Center on Law and Policy, Colorado Fiscal Institute, Connecticut Women's Education and Legal Fund (CWEALF), Economic Opportunity Institute, Economic Policy Institute, Empowering Pacific Islander Communities, Equal Rights Advocates, Every Texan, Faith in Public Life, Family Values @ Work, Florida Policy Institute, Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, Healthy Nourishment,  LLC, Indiana Community Action Poverty Institute, Institute for Women's Policy Research, Jobs With Justice, Justice for Migrant Women, Kentucky Equal Justice Center, Legal Aid at Work, Legal Momentum,  The Women's Legal Defense and Education Fund, Maine Center for Economic Policy, MANA,  A National Latina Organization, MomsRising, National Black Worker Center, National CAPACD- National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development, National Center for Law and Economic Justice, National Council of Jewish Women, National Education Association, National Employment Law Project, National Employment Lawyers Association, National Immigration Law Center, National Organization for Women, National Partnership for Women & Families, National Women's Law Center, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies, NextGen America, North Carolina Justice Center, Oxfam America, Philadelphia Coalition of Labor Union Women, Poligon Education Fund, Public Justice Center, ROC United, Service Employees International Union, She Leads Justice, Shriver Center on Poverty Law, Sojourners-SojoAction, Start Early, Sugar Law Center for Economic & Social Justice, TakeAction Minnesota, The National Domestic Violence Hotline, The Workers Circle, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, United for Respect, We All Rise, Women and Girls Foundation of Southwest PA, Women Employed, Women's Fund of Rhode Island, Women's Law Project, Women's Media Center, Workplace Fairness, YWCA of the University of Illinois, YWCA USA, ZERO TO THREE

The full text of the legislation is here.

Congresswoman DeLauro and Senator Warren have introduced the Schedules That Work Act every Congress since 2015.