New 'Schedules That Work Act' Mandates 14-Day Notice and Premium Pay for Last-Minute Shift Changes in Retail and Hospitality

The “Schedules That Work Act” is designed to tackle one of the most frustrating parts of hourly work: the unpredictable schedule. If you’ve ever had a shift canceled an hour before you were supposed to clock in, or been scheduled to close late one night only to open early the next morning, this bill is aimed squarely at your experience. It targets employers with 15 or more employees in specific sectors—namely retail, food service, hospitality, and warehousing—and puts a hard stop to the practice of “just-in-time” scheduling.

The Right to Ask, The Employer’s Duty to Answer

One of the biggest changes is the creation of a formal right to request a schedule change. If you need different hours because you have a serious health condition, you’re a caregiver for a family member, you’re enrolled in a career training program, or you need to accommodate a second job, your employer must grant the request unless they have a “bona fide business reason” to deny it (Sec. 3). That’s a key phrase—a legitimate business need, like significant added costs or inability to reorganize work among staff. For any other reason, the employer can deny your request for any reason that isn’t illegal. The important takeaway here is that if your request is tied to caregiving or education, the employer has to jump a higher hurdle to say no, and they must discuss the request with you in good faith first.

Putting a Price Tag on Last-Minute Changes

For covered sector employees, the bill mandates that employers must post the work schedule at least 14 days in advance (Sec. 4). If they fail to do this, they owe the employee a $75 penalty for every day the schedule is late. This is a game-changer for budgeting and planning. But what about changes after the schedule is posted? That's where “predictability pay” comes in.

If your boss changes your schedule with less than 14 days' notice, they owe you extra money. If they add hours or change your shift time without cutting hours, you get one extra hour of pay at your regular rate just for the inconvenience (Sec. 4). If they cancel or reduce your hours, they still owe you half your regular rate for every hour you lost. For example, if you were scheduled for a four-hour shift that gets canceled last minute, you still get paid for two hours. The only exceptions are when the change is requested by the employee, involves a shift trade, or happens due to genuine emergencies like a fire or natural disaster.

No More 'Clopening' Without Extra Pay

The bill also addresses two notorious scheduling practices: “clopening” and “split shifts.” First, the bill establishes a “Right to Rest” (Sec. 5). Employees can decline, without penalty, to work any shift that starts less than 11 hours after their previous shift ended. If they agree in writing to work that short turnaround—say, closing at 11 PM and opening at 6 AM—the employer must pay them 1.5 times their regular rate for all hours worked during that 11-hour rest period. This premium pay makes those brutal shifts much more expensive for the employer, creating a real incentive to schedule responsibly.

Second, if you work a “split shift”—where your workday is broken up by a non-paid break longer than one hour that you didn't request—the employer must pay you for one extra hour at your regular rate (Sec. 4). These provisions are designed to compensate workers for the time they lose waiting around for their next shift, or for the disruption caused by working back-to-back shifts with insufficient rest.

What This Means for Employers and Enforcement

For businesses in the covered sectors, this bill increases the administrative burden and potentially the wage costs. They can no longer use employees as an unpaid, on-demand labor pool to manage fluctuating customer demand without consequence. The costs of schedule changes are now internalized, which should push employers toward more efficient staffing models.

Crucially, the bill includes strong enforcement mechanisms (Sec. 7). If an employer violates these rules, the employee can sue to recover lost wages, damages, and liquidated damages. The Department of Labor also gains authority to investigate complaints and assess civil penalties of up to $1,000 per violation for repeated offenses. Furthermore, the bill contains robust anti-retaliation protections, making it illegal for an employer to punish an employee for requesting a schedule change or reporting a violation (Sec. 6).