Cheers erupted at Seattle City Hall just after the City Council passed a secure scheduling law by unanimous vote.             

It made Seattle only the second major city in the country to protect some worker schedules from being changed with short notice.

Fast-food and retail employees told the Council that they suffered from constant schedule changes made on short notice.

grocery worker Jeanette Randle said, “With this law passing, I will be able to know what days I'm really working to plan for child care, health care appointments and finally will be able to attend school functions for my three kids” .

The new Secure Scheduling Law covered only food service and retail business that had 500 or more employees in Seattle or nationwide. Full-service restaurants with fewer than 40 locations are exempt.

It required that employees get their schedules 14 days in advance, and get extra “predictability pay” when their hours are suddenly cut or extended. Voluntary changes are exempt.

Jeffery James said, “It would also help my friends who get their hours cut from time to time by being able to be reimbursed on 50 percent of that. I believe that will help them know what pay they are getting every week instead of having to guess.”

Councilmember Lorena Gonzalez said, “I think we heard the same concerns when the City of Seattle passed the minimum wage ordinance. The sky has not fallen, In fact business is as good as it has ever been.”

The new law will be under effect from July 2017, and Gonzalez said that the city will study its effects for two years to decide whether any changes should be made.

By Prakriti neogi