Businesses made their stand against Seattle's proposed "secure scheduling" law Tuesday evening.
Representatives from Home Depot, AutoZone, Target, Petco, Subway franchises, and other chains packed half the city council chamber at a public hearing to criticize proposed rules on how their companies schedule workers in the city.
Seattle’s proposal aims to reduce chaos in the lives of some hourly workers, who say they struggle with schedules that can vary week by week or day by day.
Workers said at the hearing that unpredictable schedules make it hard to go to school, raise a family, hold a second job, or get enough hours to make ends meet.
“Working in fast food can be difficult when you’re only getting your schedule one day in advance,” said Crystal Thompson, a mother of three who said she otherwise loves her job at Domino’s Pizza.
The law would require some companies to post workers’ schedules two weeks in advance, and aims to reduce practices like last-minute changes by managers, having workers wait around “on call” without being paid, and having employees close a location then wake up a few hours later to open. It would also require companies to offer extra hours to existing employees before hiring new ones.
Seattle would be the second city to pass such a law. San Francisco passed similar provisions in 2014. Seattle’s rules would affect retail and restaurant chains with locations in the city and more than 500 employees worldwide.
Business representatives said the law would have unintended effects on the lives of workers, especially those who need flexible hours for school or family.
“We believe it will wipe out the scheduling flexibility that benefits both the employees and the employers,” said Jan Teague, president of the Washington Retail Association, which represents retail companies throughout the state.
Teague predicted managers would simply make due with fewer employees when someone can’t make it to work, rather than authorize “predictability pay” that would compensate workers who are called in for unscheduled shifts.
Working Washington, the union-funded group that campaigned successfully for Seattle’s $15 minimum wage two years ago, has thrown its weight behind the scheduling law.
Working Washington spokesman Sage Wilson said the law is designed to expand flexibility for workers. He said it creates incentives for managers to communicate with groups of employees to find coverage for shifts, and requires managers to take workers’ school, childcare, and second job obligations into account when writing schedules.
“A lot of people have great bosses,” Wilson said. “Not every manager is bad. Not every schedule is terrible. That’s certainly true. Right now, the way we have the system is that workers are kind of left to cross their fingers that they get the right boss that works out for them or a lucky schedule.”
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray supports the law. The city council is expected to vote on the proposal by mid-September.
