State, Local Governments Tackle On-Call Practice

Retailers with workers on call for work might run into trouble in some areas because of new regulations.

October 16, 2015

ALBANY, N.Y. – Hospitals, restaurants and other retailers have long had a practice of putting some workers “on call” to meet the often fluctuating demand of their business. Now, some state and local governments have started enacting regulations to address the issue, Full Service Restaurants reports. The new laws also address sending employees home early from scheduled shifts because of less demand than expected.

In April, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman warned several retail chains in a letter that on-call shifts—where workers call in before the start time to check on need—might be in violation of current labor laws. The reasoning behind the warning was that employees were left with little time to make arrangements for family issues and it stopped them from picking up work from another source.

San Francisco and Oakland, California, both have ordinances on the books addressing on-call wages. Congress is even considering a bill on the issue. “I think there’s a tremendous pressure by regulators,” said Jim Evans, a partner with the law firm Alston & Bird. “Not in all of the states right now, but in specific geographic areas.”

While governments have their eye on larger retail and restaurant chains, the regulations will impact most stores. “Lots of industries are taking advantage of the flexibility of having on-call workers. But retail and restaurants are the most frequent users of on-call shifts, because they’re trying to control payroll expenses in light of unpredictable demand,” said Evans.

These new regulations vary but most require businesses to schedule workers at least two weeks out and also provide some of the lost wages for on-call workers who end up at home instead of work.

Look for more on this retail challenge in the November issue of NACS Magazine.

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