Oregon is the only state with a statewide predictive scheduling law. Several other states have local ordinances in specific cities, including New York (NYC), Illinois (Chicago, Evanston), Washington (Seattle), Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), and California (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Berkeley, Emeryville). Employers often search for predictive scheduling laws by state and miss critical city-level laws. Multiple states including Michigan, Connecticut, and Rhode Island are actively considering statewide legislation.
Predictive Scheduling Laws by State: 2026 Fair Workweek Compliance Guide
In this article
Scheduling an hourly workforce has never been simple, but in a growing number of cities and one state, it's also subject to a layer of legal requirements that can catch unprepared employers off guard.
Predictive scheduling laws, also known as fair workweek laws, mandate advance notice of work schedules, restrict last-minute changes, and require premium pay when employers don't follow the rules.
For multi-location employers in retail, food service, or hospitality, these laws are significant operational requirements that carry financial consequences for noncompliance. As of 2026, one state and eleven municipalities have enacted predictive scheduling laws, enforcement is active, and the trend continues to expand.
This guide covers everything employers need to know, including what predictive scheduling laws require, which jurisdictions have them, how predictability pay works, and what compliance looks like in practice.
What are predictive scheduling laws?
Predictive scheduling laws are a category of labor regulations designed to give hourly and shift-based workers greater stability and predictability in their work schedules. They emerged in response to widespread use of "just-in-time" scheduling practices in retail, food service, and hospitality, where employees were often given little advance notice of shifts or had hours cut or changed at the last minute.
Definition of predictive scheduling laws
At their core, predictive scheduling laws — also called fair workweek laws or fair scheduling laws — require covered employers to provide employees with their work schedules a set number of days in advance, typically 14 days. When employers make changes to posted schedules within that window, they must compensate employees with predictability pay.
What is predictability pay?
Predictability pay is premium compensation owed to employees when an employer changes a posted schedule within the required advance notice period. The specific amount varies by jurisdiction, but generally ranges from one hour of additional pay to 1.5x the employee's regular rate, depending on the nature and timing of the change.
What is a clopening shift?
A clopening shift is when an employee closes a business one night and opens it the next morning, resulting in fewer hours of rest between shifts than is legally required. Most predictive scheduling jurisdictions either prohibit clopening shifts without employee consent, or require premium pay when an employee works with less than the minimum required rest period.
Which employees are typically covered?
Coverage varies significantly by jurisdiction. Generally, predictive scheduling laws apply to non-exempt, hourly employees at large employers in covered industries. Most laws set employer size thresholds (often 500 or more employees globally), industry requirements, and in some cases, wage thresholds. The thresholds differ enough between jurisdictions that employers need to check each one individually.
Industries most commonly affected
Predictive scheduling laws most commonly apply to retail, food service, hospitality, and in Chicago, healthcare, building services, manufacturing, and warehouse operations.
Why predictive scheduling laws matter for employers
Compliance with fair workweek laws has real implications for payroll costs, workforce operations, and employee retention. Here's what employers need to understand.
Compliance risks and penalties
Enforcement of predictive scheduling laws is active and, in some jurisdictions, aggressive. NYC Fair Workweek enforcement has delivered a nearly $2 million settlement against a Dunkin' Donuts and Taco Bell management company, and approximately $80 million in worker relief overall. Violations can result in fines per employee per violation, back pay obligations, and private lawsuits.
Impact on payroll and labor costs
Predictability pay obligations add a direct cost to every unplanned schedule change. A single canceled shift in Chicago can trigger a payment of 50% of the employee's scheduled pay. In Oregon, changing a shift's start time costs one additional hour of pay per change. Building predictability pay calculations into your payroll system from the start is essential for accurate labor cost accounting.
Employee retention and satisfaction
Workers with predictable schedules are better able to plan their lives, arrange childcare, and achieve better work-life balance. That stability translates into lower turnover rates, less scrambling with last-minute call-outs, and better morale — all of which carry significant financial value for employers.
How workforce management software helps
Rippling's scheduling and time tracking tools connect directly to payroll, so when a schedule change triggers a predictability pay obligation, the premium is calculated and applied automatically. Managers get real-time alerts when a proposed change would trigger additional pay or violate a rest period requirement, and every modification is logged with a timestamp for audit purposes. For multi-location employers, Rippling applies the correct rules by jurisdiction automatically.
Key predictive scheduling requirements employers should know
While requirements vary by jurisdiction, most predictive scheduling and fair workweek laws share a common set of core provisions.
Advance notice scheduling requirements
The most universal requirement: employers must post work schedules a set number of days before the first shift covered by that schedule. Most predictive scheduling laws require employers to provide written work schedules at least 14 days in advance. Schedules must typically be posted in a conspicuous location accessible to all employees.
Predictability pay requirements
When an employer changes a posted schedule within the advance notice window, employees are generally entitled to predictability pay. Triggers typically include adding hours, reducing hours, canceling a shift entirely, changing start or end times, or requiring an employee to be on-call. Each scenario may trigger different pay obligations under different laws.
Right-to-rest requirements
Most predictive scheduling jurisdictions require a minimum rest period of 10 hours between shifts. If an employee agrees to work with less than the required rest period, the employer must pay a premium rate for hours worked during the rest window, typically 1.25x to 1.5x the regular rate.
Good-faith schedule estimates and access-to-hours
Many laws require employers to provide new hires with a written good-faith estimate of their expected weekly hours at hire. Several jurisdictions also require employers to offer available hours to existing employees before hiring new staff, fundamentally changing how many employers approach staffing decisions.
Recordkeeping requirements
Most predictive scheduling laws require employers to maintain scheduling records for two to three years, documenting posted schedules, any changes made, the timing of those changes, and any predictability pay provided. These records are the foundation of any compliance defense.
States with predictive scheduling laws
As of 2026, one state and eleven municipalities have implemented predictive scheduling laws. Oregon remains the only state with a statewide predictive scheduling law.
Oregon predictive scheduling law
Oregon's Fair Workweek Act was the first statewide predictive scheduling law in the United States and remains the only one. It covers employers in the retail, hospitality, and food service industries with at least 500 employees worldwide.
Oregon requires written work schedules at least 14 days in advance. Predictability pay is triggered by schedule changes: employers owe half the regular rate per scheduled hour when an employee doesn't work due to a reduced or canceled shift, and one additional hour of pay when start or end times change without reducing hours. The right-to-rest provision prohibits clopening shifts unless the employee consents to work with less than 10 hours between shifts, in which case 1.5x pay applies. Violations can trigger civil penalties of $500 to $2,000 per employee per day of violation.
Cities with fair workweek laws
Most predictive scheduling protections in the US exist at the city level. Here's a breakdown of the key jurisdictions.
Chicago Fair Workweek Ordinance
Chicago's Fair Workweek Ordinance took effect in 2020 and covers a broader range of industries than most comparable laws: building services, healthcare, hotels, manufacturing, restaurants, retail, and warehouse services. Employees must earn $32.60 per hour or less, and employers must have at least 100 employees globally (250 employees and 30 locations for restaurants).
Chicago requires 14 days' advance notice. Predictability pay applies when hours are added or changed, and 50% of scheduled pay is owed when a shift is canceled with less than 24 hours' notice. Employees may decline shifts scheduled within 10 hours of a previous shift, or accept at 1.25x their regular rate.
New York City Fair Workweek Law
New York City's Fair Workweek Law took effect in 2017 and applies differently to fast food and retail employers. Fast food workers at chains with 30 or more locations nationally are entitled to regular schedules, 14 days' advance notice, predictability pay, and premium pay for clopenings. For retail businesses with 20 or more employees, employers must provide at least 72 hours' notice and generally cannot cancel or shorten a shift by more than 15 minutes with less than 72 hours' notice. Schedule change premiums for fast food workers range from $10 to $75 depending on how close to the scheduled shift the change occurs.
Seattle Secure Scheduling Ordinance
Seattle's Secure Scheduling Ordinance took effect July 1, 2017. It covers hourly employees at retail and food service establishments with 500 or more employees worldwide (full-service restaurants must also have 40 or more locations). Employers must post schedules 14 days in advance and provide a good-faith estimate of expected hours at hire. Seattle requires a minimum of 10 hours between shifts; hours worked within that rest window must be paid at time-and-a-half.
Philadelphia Fair Workweek Law
Philadelphia's Fair Workweek Employment Standards took effect April 1, 2020. It applies to retail, food, and hospitality businesses with 30 or more locations nationwide and 250 or more employees, including part-timers. Workers can request schedule changes without fear of retaliation.
San Francisco Formula Retail Employee Rights Ordinances
San Francisco passed the first fair workweek law in the US in 2014. The city's Formula Retail Employee Rights Ordinances cover chain stores with 20 or more locations globally. Employers must provide two weeks' advance notice and pay one additional hour of pay for each schedule change.
Los Angeles Fair Workweek protections
Los Angeles County enacted a fair workweek ordinance effective July 1, 2025, applying to retail employers with 300 or more employees nationwide operating within unincorporated areas of the county. The City of Los Angeles has separate fair workweek protections for retail workers requiring two weeks' advance scheduling notice.
Berkeley, Emeryville, and Evanston
Berkeley's Fair Workweek Ordinance requires businesses with 10 or more employees in the city across covered industries to comply with scheduling requirements, with penalties of $1,000 per affected employee. Emeryville's ordinance covers retailers and fast-food restaurants with 56 or more employees globally and at least 20 in Emeryville. Evanston, Illinois passed its own Fair Workweek Ordinance modeled on Chicago's requirements, covering retail, restaurant, and hotel employers above size thresholds with 14 days' advance notice and predictability pay of one to four hours.
States that ban local predictive scheduling laws
While some cities have expanded employee scheduling protections, a number of states have moved in the opposite direction, prohibiting local governments from enacting fair workweek ordinances. These states have preemption laws that prevent cities and counties from passing their own fair workweek requirements: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.
Predictability pay explained
Predictability pay is triggered when an employer modifies a posted schedule within the required advance notice window. Triggers typically include any change to a shift's date, start time, end time, or duration after the schedule has been posted.
Under Chicago's ordinance, employers must pay 50% of the pay for an entire shift when it's canceled with less than 24 hours' notice. Oregon requires half the employee's regular rate for each scheduled hour the employee does not work when a shift is shortened or canceled. Oregon also requires one additional hour of pay when an employer changes the start or end time of a shift without reducing hours.
Examples of predictability pay scenarios
Scenario 1: An Oregon retail employee is scheduled for an eight-hour shift at $20/hour. The employer cancels the shift the day before. The employee is owed half the regular rate for each of the eight scheduled hours — $80 in predictability pay.
Scenario 2: A Chicago restaurant employee is scheduled Tuesday through Saturday. On Thursday, the manager adds a Sunday shift with six days' notice. Because the addition was made within the 14-day notice window, the employee is owed one hour of predictability pay at their regular rate.
Scenario 3: A Seattle retail employee closes at 11:30 PM and is scheduled to open at 7:00 AM — a gap of only 7.5 hours. The employee agrees to the clopening. Under Seattle's ordinance, hours worked during the 10-hour rest window must be paid at time-and-a-half.
Right-to-rest and clopening laws
The right to rest gives employees the ability to decline shifts scheduled within a minimum number of hours of their previous shift without penalty. Employees can generally waive this right voluntarily in writing, but employers cannot require or coerce employees to do so.
The standard minimum rest period across most jurisdictions is 10 hours between shifts. Clopening restrictions by jurisdiction:
Oregon: 10-hour minimum; 1.5x pay for hours worked within the rest window
Seattle: 10-hour minimum; time-and-a-half for hours worked within the rest window
Chicago: Employees may decline shifts within 10 hours of a previous shift; 1.25x pay if they accept
New York City: Consent and premium pay required for clopening shifts in fast food
When an employee agrees to a clopening, the premium pay obligation applies to the hours worked during the rest window, not the entire shift. Employers need payroll systems that can identify and calculate these premiums accurately.
Industries most affected by predictive scheduling laws
Retail scheduling laws
Retail is covered under almost every predictive scheduling jurisdiction in the country. Formula retailers, large-box stores, and chain operations in covered cities face the full range of obligations: advance notice, predictability pay, and access-to-hours requirements. The access-to-hours provision is especially significant for retailers who staff heavily with part-time workers.
Restaurant and fast food scheduling laws
Fast food chains face some of the most extensive predictive scheduling requirements of any employer type. NYC, Chicago, Philadelphia, and multiple California cities all cover food service employers, and NYC's Fair Workweek Law applies to all fast food chains with 30 or more locations nationally — one of the broadest coverage definitions in any jurisdiction. For multi-unit restaurant operators, compliance obligations can span several cities with different rules and different pay premiums.
Hospitality and hotel scheduling laws
Hotels are covered in Chicago and several California jurisdictions. Compliance in hospitality is uniquely challenging because occupancy fluctuates based on bookings, events, and seasonal demand. Under predictive scheduling laws, reactive staffing adjustment carries a cost — employers need demand-forecasting tools that let them build accurate schedules further in advance.
Healthcare and warehouse scheduling
Chicago's Fair Workweek Ordinance includes healthcare providers and warehouse services, creating unique compliance challenges. Patient care demands are genuinely unpredictable in a way that restaurant traffic is not, and warehouse operations typically staff based on shipment volume that fluctuates daily. Both require compliance programs that account for legitimate operational exceptions while still meeting the ordinance's documentation and pay requirements.
How employers can stay compliant
Compliance with predictive scheduling laws requires process changes, not just policy updates. Here's what effective compliance looks like operationally.
Post schedules earlier. Build scheduling processes that generate final schedules at least 14 days before the first shift they cover. Employee scheduling software that integrates with sales and traffic data can support this shift to demand-forecasting models.
Track schedule changes automatically. Every change to a posted schedule within the notice window needs to be tracked, timestamped, and tied to the specific employee affected. Scheduling software that automatically logs every modification creates the record you need for both predictability pay calculations and compliance documentation.
Maintain scheduling audit trails. Most predictive scheduling laws require records for two to three years. An audit trail documenting original schedules, subsequent changes, timing, and any predictability pay provided is the foundation of a compliance defense if a complaint arises.
Train managers on fair workweek rules. Managers who don't understand what triggers predictability pay, when they can require a clopening, and how to document a change create compliance risk with every scheduling decision. Regular training tied to the specific laws in each location is essential for multi-site employers.
Automate predictability pay calculations. Predictability pay calculations depend on the timing of schedule changes, the type of change made, and the employee's regular rate. Payroll software that ingests schedule change data and automatically applies the correct pay rules eliminates most of this risk.
Centralize scheduling and payroll compliance. When scheduling and payroll systems don't communicate, predictability pay obligations identified in one don't automatically flow into the other. A unified HCM platform connecting scheduling, time and attendance, and payroll ensures every schedule change is reflected in both the schedule record and the pay run without manual intervention.
Best predictive scheduling software for employers
For employers in covered jurisdictions, the question isn't whether to use scheduling software — it's which one actually handles the compliance requirements. Critical capabilities include advance schedule posting with timestamps, automatic tracking of all schedule changes, jurisdiction-specific rule sets that flag compliance issues in real time, and audit-ready reporting.
The best scheduling software actively flags when a proposed change would trigger a predictability pay obligation, a scheduled clopening violates a rest period requirement, or a schedule hasn't been posted far enough in advance. For employers operating across jurisdictions, a single scheduling platform needs to apply different rule sets by location automatically.
How Rippling helps employers stay compliant
Rippling connects scheduling, time tracking, and payroll in a single platform, automatically applying jurisdiction-specific rules for predictive scheduling compliance. When a schedule change triggers a predictability pay obligation, Rippling calculates and applies the correct premium automatically. Audit trails are maintained in real time, and compliance alerts flag potential violations before schedules are published. For multi-location employers managing fair workweek requirements across multiple cities, Rippling's unified platform eliminates the manual coordination that creates compliance gaps.
Frequently Asked Questions
What states have predictive scheduling laws?
Are predictive scheduling laws federal?
No. There is no federal predictive scheduling law. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) doesn't require advance notice of schedules or predictability pay. All predictive scheduling requirements in the US exist at the state or city level.
How far in advance must work schedules be posted?
In most jurisdictions, employers must post work schedules at least 14 days before the first shift covered by that schedule. However, this varies by jurisdiction. New York City's retail law requires 72 hours' notice for the upcoming seven-day schedule, even though it requires 14 days' advance notice for fast food employees. Always check the specific requirements for each jurisdiction where you operate.
What is predictability pay?
Predictability pay is additional compensation owed to employees when an employer modifies a posted schedule within the required advance notice window. Amounts vary by jurisdiction and type of change, but often range from one additional hour of pay to 1.5x the employee's regular rate. For example, Chicago requires 50% of scheduled pay for shifts canceled with less than 24 hours' notice. Oregon requires half the employee's regular rate for each scheduled hour lost when a shift is shortened or canceled.
What is a clopening shift?
A clopening shift is when an employee closes a business at night and opens it the following morning with insufficient rest time between the two shifts. Most predictive scheduling jurisdictions set a minimum rest window of 10 hours and require premium pay or employee consent when that window isn't met. Employees cannot be required to work a clopening — they must consent voluntarily, and if they do, the hours worked during the rest window must be paid at a premium rate (typically 1.25x to 1.5x their regular rate).
Does California have predictive scheduling laws?
There is no statewide California predictive scheduling law. Predictive scheduling protections in California exist at the city level. Several California cities have fair workweek ordinances, including San Francisco (the first fair workweek law in the US, passed in 2014), Los Angeles (city and county), Berkeley, and Emeryville. Each city has its own requirements, coverage thresholds, and penalty structures.
Does New York require predictive scheduling?
New York State doesn't have a statewide predictive scheduling law, but New York City does. NYC's Fair Workweek law has different rules for fast food employers (14 days of advance notice) and retail employers (72 hours' notice for the upcoming week). Fast food chains with 30 or more locations nationally are covered. Retail businesses with 20 or more employees are covered. Enforcement is active — NYC has already secured approximately $80 million in worker relief under the law.
Can employees refuse last-minute schedule changes?
In most jurisdictions with fair workweek laws, employees have the right to decline schedule changes that fall within the protected rest period or that are made without the required advance notice. Employees cannot be retaliated against for exercising this right. If an employee agrees to a last-minute change, the employer must pay predictability pay for the change. Requiring or coercing employees to waive these rights is itself a violation.
Which industries are covered by fair workweek laws?
Retail and food service are covered in virtually every jurisdiction. Hospitality is covered in Chicago and several California cities. Chicago's ordinance also covers healthcare, building services, manufacturing, and warehouse services — one of the broadest industry coverage definitions of any fair workweek law. Check which laws apply to your specific industry in each jurisdiction where you operate, as coverage thresholds and industry definitions vary significantly.
Are more states expected to adopt predictive scheduling laws?
The trend is clearly toward expansion. States actively considering predictive scheduling legislation include Michigan, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Employers currently without predictive scheduling obligations should monitor legislative developments, particularly if they operate in major metropolitan areas where local ordinances have historically preceded state action. Even in states with preemption laws, federal legislation remains a possibility that multi-state employers should track.
Disclaimer
Rippling and its affiliates do not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide or be relied on for tax, accounting, or legal advice. You should consult your own tax, accounting, and legal advisors before engaging in any related activities or transactions.
Author
Vanessa Kahkesh
Content Marketing Manager, HR
Vanessa Kahkesh is a content marketer for HR passionate about shaping conversations at the intersection of people, strategy, and workplace culture. At Rippling, she leads the creation of HR-focused content. Vanessa honed her marketing, storytelling, and growth skills through roles in product marketing, community-building, and startup ventures. She worked on the product marketing team at Replit and was the founder of STUDENTpreneurs, a global community platform for student founders. Her multidisciplinary experience — combining narrative, brand, and operations — gives her a unique lens into HR content: she effectively bridges the technical side of HR with the human stories behind them.
See Rippling in action
Increase savings, automate busy work, and make better decisions by managing HR, IT, and Finance in one place.