SB 627

This bill provides that an employee who works for an employer, including the

state and political subdivision employers, that employs at least 15 employees has the

right to request and receive changes to the employee's work schedule under certain

circumstances. The bill also provides rights regarding work scheduling for

employees in certain retail, food service, or cleaning occupations, or other

occupations designated by the Department of Workforce Development.

Employee right to request and receive work schedule changes

Under the bill, an employer must negotiate in good faith with an employee to

accommodate changes the employee requests to his or her work schedule. Further,

unless an employer has a bona fide business reason for denying the request, the

employer must approve an employee's request if it is directly related to any of the

following:

1. A serious health condition of the employee.

2. Responsibilities of the employee as a caregiver for a family member.

3. Enrollment of the employee in certain educational or training programs.

4. A part-time employee's work scheduling conflicts with the employee's other

employment.

If an employer denies an employee's request for a schedule change, the

employer must inform the employee of the reasons for denial, including whether any

of the reasons is a bona fide business reason as defined in the bill.

Service employee right to predictable work schedule

The bill requires an employer that employs an employee in certain service

industry occupations, including retail, food service, and cleaning occupations to

provide the service employee a written copy of the employee's work schedule on or

before the service employee's first day of work. With certain exceptions, if an

employer changes the service employee's work schedule, the employer must provide

the new work schedule to the employee at least 14 days in advance.

The bill also requires that if an employer changes a service employee's work

schedule with fewer than 14 days' notice, the employer must pay the service

employee an amount equal to the employee's regular rate of pay for one hour of work.

Exceptions to this requirement include when the employee consents to the change

or when the employer requires the service employee to work additional time because

another employee was scheduled to work that time and is unexpectedly unavailable

to work.

The bill also requires the following for employers that use certain scheduling

practices:

1. If the service employee reports to work and the employer does not allow the

employee to work all time scheduled, the employer must provide the employee with:

1) full compensation as if the employee had worked the full shift; or 2) if the employee

is scheduled to work more than four hours and works less than four hours, an amount