S. 3550 — Schedules That Work Act

This section designates the Act as the "Schedules That Work Act" and states congressional findings on unstable and unpredictable work schedules, including their prevalence among low-wage workers in retail, food service, and similar industries (e.g., just-in-time scheduling, on-call shifts, clopening shifts, and less than two weeks' advance notice for two-thirds of hourly retail and food service workers); their adverse effects on workers' ability to secure child care, pursue training, maintain second jobs, access benefits, and manage health; and their links to economic hardship, mental health issues, child outcomes, turnover, and disproportionate impacts on workers of color.

This section defines terms used in the Act, including (1) "bona fide business reason" (e.g., identifiable employer costs such as productivity loss or inability to meet organizational needs); (2) "career-related educational or training program" (i.e., programs leading to a recognized postsecondary credential, including those allowable under specified workforce, career-technical, and higher education laws); (3) "caregiver" (significant provider of ongoing care for a child or family member with a serious health condition or a parent aged 65 or older); (4) "child" (biological, adopted, foster, stepchild, etc., regardless of age); (5) "covered employer" (person engaged in commerce employing 15 or more employees, with aggregation rules based on prior-year averages); (6) "covered sector employee" (nonexempt employee in hospitality, warehouse, specified retail sales, food preparation/serving, or cleaning occupations per Bureau of Labor Statistics codes, or as designated by the Secretary of Labor); (7) "domestic partner" (as recognized under applicable state or local law); and others.

This section establishes employees' right to request changes in employment terms and conditions related to (1) required hours or on-call time, (2) times of required work or on-call duty, (3) work location, (4) amount of schedule assignment notification, and (5) minimizing fluctuations in scheduled hours on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. It requires employers to engage in a timely, good-faith interactive process with the employee—including discussion of potential changes, clarification of needed information, and either granting or denying the request (with consideration of alternatives and stated reasons if denied); for requests due to a serious health condition, caregiving responsibilities, enrollment in career-related education or training, or another job, employers must grant the request absent a bona fide business reason; other requests may be denied for any lawful reason.

This section establishes requirements for employers of covered sector employees (i.e., those in specified industries such as retail and food service) to provide written work schedules at least 14 days before the first day (or on the first day for new hires), post schedules conspicuously (including electronically), inform employees of estimated minimum expected monthly work hours over the next 12-month period (initially within 90 days of enactment for current employees and updated at least annually or before significant changes), and compensate employees $75 per day for violations of the advance notice requirement. The section further requires predictability pay for work schedule changes made less than 14 days in advance, at rates of (1) the employee's regular hourly rate plus one additional hour at that rate for added hours or changes in date, time, or location with no hour loss; or (2) at least half the regular rate for each hour of reduced or canceled scheduled work. Employees may decline without penalty to work hours not on the posted schedule, and voluntary consent to unposted hours must be in writing (except under specified exceptions). Predictability pay and written consent are not required for (1) employee-requested changes (including leave); (2) mutually agreed shift trades; or (3) operations disruptions due to threats, utility failures, natural disasters, states of emergency, or severe weather. The section begins to establish split shift pay requirements.

This section provides employees of covered employers the right to decline, without penalty, any work shift or on-call shift scheduled less than 11 hours after the end of the previous shift or during the 11 hours following a shift spanning two days. Employees may consent in writing to such shifts (revocable at any time in writing, for one or multiple shifts), but covered employers must compensate employees at 1.5 times the scheduled rate of pay for hours worked less than 11 hours apart from the previous shift.

This section prohibits (1) employer interference with, restraint of, or denial of employee rights under sections 3, 4, or 5; (2) employer retaliation against employees for exercising such rights, opposing unlawful practices under the Act, or requesting or being eligible for work schedule changes under section 3; and (3) discrimination against individuals for filing charges, providing information, or testifying in proceedings related to rights under the Act.

This section grants the Secretary of Labor investigative authority (under FLSA section 11(a)), subpoena power (under FLSA section 9), and recordkeeping requirements (via regulations under FLSA section 9) to ensure compliance with the Act, while limiting routine employer record submissions to once per 12-month period absent reasonable cause or an ongoing investigation. This section authorizes affected employees to sue violating employers (including public agencies) in federal or state court—individually or on behalf of similarly situated employees—for damages equal to denied wages, salary, employment benefits, or other compensation (or actual monetary losses if none denied); interest; liquidated damages equal to damages plus interest (waivable for good-faith violations); and equitable relief such as reinstatement. Courts must award reasonable attorney’s fees, expert witness fees, and costs to prevailing plaintiffs; employee suits terminate upon DOL filing if DOL seeks the same remedies. This section requires the Secretary to receive, investigate, and resolve complaints administratively (as under FLSA sections 6 and 7, i.e., minimum wage and overtime), with administrative law judge review under the Administrative Procedure Act and civil penalties of $500-$1,000 per violation for willful and repeated violations of sections 4 or 5, or $1,100-$5,000 per violation for subsection (b) or (c) of section 6. (Willful means the employer knew of the prohibition or recklessly disregarded it; repeated means two or more violations.)

This section requires each employer to post and keep posted, in conspicuous places where employee notices are customarily displayed, a notice prepared or approved by the Secretary (or applicable administrative officer) summarizing pertinent provisions of the Act and complaint filing information. It imposes a civil money penalty of up to $100 for each willful violation.

This section directs the Secretary of Labor, not later than 180 days after enactment, to issue regulations implementing the Act (except as provided for other entities), including a process to designate additional occupations beyond retail, food service, cleaning, hospitality, or warehouse for coverage under sec. 4 based on criteria such as at least 10% of workers receiving work schedules with less than 14 days' advance notice or experiencing scheduled hours fluctuations (daily, weekly, or monthly), or other appropriate factors, with data review from stakeholders and the Department. This section further directs the following entities, also not later than 180 days after enactment, to issue implementing regulations that are the same as the Secretary's substantive regulations except for good-cause modifications stated with the regulations: (1) Board of Directors of the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights (OCWR), for employees described in sec. 2(10)(C), using procedures prescribed in sec. 304 of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1384) (i.e., notice and adoption via Congressional Record publication rather than Federal Register; separate regulations for Senate employees, House employees, and others) and considering enforcement and remedies under that Act for Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) rights; (2) President, for employees described in sec. 2(10)(D), considering FMLA enforcement provisions under ch. 5, title 3, U.S. Code, applicable to the President and Merit Systems Protection Board; (3) Office of Personnel Management, for employees described in sec. 2(10)(E), considering enforcement provisions under subch. V, ch. 63, title 5, U.S. Code; and (4) Librarian of Congress, for Library of Congress employees, considering FMLA enforcement provisions under title I of FMLA (29 U.S.C. 2611 et seq.).

This section establishes a research, education, and technical assistance program to promote compliance with the Act. The Secretary of Labor must (1) issue guidance, through the Wage and Hour Division Administrator, on providing flexible, predictable, or stable work environments via changes to employment terms and conditions under section 3(a); and (2) conduct a continuing program that includes pilot programs implementing fairer work schedules (e.g., cross-training, 3 weeks or more advance notice, minimum hours of work, electronic workforce management systems), evaluating those pilots for employees, families, and employers; publishing studies and compliance materials; sponsoring state and community programs; and providing technical assistance to employers, labor organizations, and others. This section further directs the Secretary, through the Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner and Bureau of the Census Director, to add questions to the Current Population Survey on schedule fluctuations (daily, weekly, monthly), advance notice received, employee input on schedules, and preferred versus actual hours worked; and to regularly update the Contingent Worker Supplement, Work Schedules and Work at Home Supplement, and other relevant supplements to the Current Population Survey and American Time Use Survey.

This section provides that the Act establishes minimum requirements and does not preempt, limit, or otherwise affect any other law, requirement, policy, or standard that provides greater rights for employees.

This section exempts from the Act employees covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement that (1) includes terms governing work scheduling practices and (2) expressly waives the Act's provisions.

This section provides that nothing in the Act supersedes or conflicts with any federal, state, or local law—including the Americans with Disabilities Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, National Labor Relations Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, and title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The section further states that nothing in the Act diminishes or impairs employee rights under any valid collective bargaining agreement.