Retail work has long been characterized by unpredictability: last-minute shift changes, “on-call” requirements, cancellations, additions with little notice. In response, New York City’s Retail Fair Workweek Law (RFWWL) has stepped in to impose concrete scheduling protections for certain retail employees. The one-sheet notice published by the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) entitled “72 Hours’ Advance Notice of Work Schedule” succinctly summarizes the core rights and obligations.
The RFWWL covers retail employees working at a business that primarily sells consumer goods, employs at least 20 workers in NYC, and the law applies “regardless of immigration status.”
For covered employers, key obligations include:
- Providing the written schedule at least 72 hours before its start via the method of communication the employer uses to contact the workers (e., email or text).
- Posting the schedule at the workplace so all workers can observe it.
- Including specific data: dates, shift start and end times, and location(s) of all shifts.
- Updating and reposting when changes are made and “contact all affected workers” if the schedule changes.
Beyond the positive “72-hour notice” requirement, the notice also prohibits several common scheduling practices:
- No cancellations less than 72 hours before a scheduled shift: Employers cannot cancel a shift less than 72 hours before the start of the shift, subject only to narrow exceptions (such as threats to worker safety, utility failure, transportation shutdown, fire/flood or other natural disaster, or a government-declared state of emergency).
- No additions or modifications (adding time/shifts) less than 72 hours before the change: If the employer wants to add a shift/time to your schedule less than 72 hours before, you have the right to accept or decline. If you accept, it must be in writing.
- No “on-call” shifts: The employer cannot require a worker to be “ready and available” to work at a time the employer demands, regardless of whether the worker report to work; and cannot require the worker to “check in” within 72 hours of a scheduled shift to find out if they must report.
The 72-hour advance notice requirement under the Retail Fair Workweek Law imposes concrete obligations on NYC retail employers to move toward predictable scheduling, eliminate on-call shifts, and prohibit last-minute cancellations or additions to an employee’s schedule without the employee’s consent. For retail employees, it provides a meaningful right to know their schedule in advance and to rely on a posted schedule. Employees may file a complaint with the DCWP or pursue their own action in court. Retail employers may be subject to the following fines: $500 for a first violation, up to $750 for a second violation within a two-year period, and up to $1,000 for subsequent violations within a two-year period. Starbucks, Hot Topic, Burlington Coat Factory, and Tavern on the Green already paid over $2 Million for violations of the RFWWL.
If you need assistance understanding your rights or obligations under the Retail Fair Workweek Law, contact the attorneys of Pechman Law Group at 212-583-9500.
