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PRINTER'S NO. 2052
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
1802
Session of
2021
INTRODUCED BY FIEDLER, ISAACSON, HOHENSTEIN, HILL-EVANS,
SCHLOSSBERG, KRAJEWSKI, GALLOWAY, ZABEL, HOWARD, KENYATTA,
D. WILLIAMS, SANCHEZ, DELLOSO, CONKLIN, O'MARA, A. DAVIS,
OTTEN, FREEMAN, McCLINTON, LEE, MATZIE, KINKEAD AND
INNAMORATO, AUGUST 31, 2021
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND INDUSTRY, AUGUST 31, 2021
AN ACT
Providing for fair workweek employment standards and for powers
and duties of the Department of Labor and Industry; and
imposing penalties.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the Fair Workweek
Employment Standards Act.
Section 2. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Chain." A set of establishments that do business under the
same trade name or service mark and that are characterized by
standardized options for decor, marketing, packaging, products
and services, regardless of the type of ownership of each
individual establishment.
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"Covered employer." A retail establishment, hospitality
establishment or food services establishment that, worldwide,
employs 250 or more employees and has 20 or more locations
regardless of where the employees perform work, including, but
not limited to, chain establishments or franchises associated
with a franchisor or network of franchises that employ more than
250 employees in aggregate. The term includes an individual,
partnership, association, corporation or business trust or any
person or group of persons, or a successor of such, that employs
another person in a retail establishment, hospitality
establishment or food services establishment, including a person
acting directly or indirectly in the interest of the employer in
relation to the employee.
"Department." The Department of Labor and Industry of the
Commonwealth.
"Employee." An individual employed or permitted to work at
or for a covered employer within the geographic boundaries of
this Commonwealth who is required under Federal or State law to
be paid at an overtime rate for hours in excess of a maximum
number per workweek, including, but not limited to, full-time
employees, part-time employees and seasonal and temporary
workers and whose job duties involve the provision of retail
trade services, food services or hospitality services at or for
a covered employer.
"Food services establishment." A food services contractor,
caterer, mobile food service, drinking place, full-service
restaurant, limited-service restaurant, cafeteria, grill buffet,
buffet or snack and nonalcoholic beverage bar, as defined under
the 2017 NAICS 722.
"Hospitality establishment." A hotel or motel as defined
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under the 2017 NAICS 721110 or other classification.
"NAICS." The North American Industry Classification System.
"On-call shift." Any time that a covered employer requires
an employee to be available to work, or to contact the covered
employer or the covered employer's designee or wait to be
contacted by the covered employer or its designee, to determine
whether the employee must report to work at that time.
"Posted work schedule." The written work schedule that a
covered employer is required to provide to employees under
section 3(c) and post under section 3(d).
"Retail establishment." The fixed point-of-sale location of
a retail business as defined under the 2017 NAICS 441 through
448 and 451 through 454.
"Secretary." The Secretary of Labor and Industry of the
Commonwealth.
"Service mark." As defined in 54 Pa.C.S. § 1102 (relating to
definitions).
"Shift." The consecutive hours a covered employer requires
an employee to work or to be on call to work, provided that
breaks totaling two hours or less may not be considered an
interruption of consecutive hours.
"Successor." A person to whom a covered employer that quits,
sells out, exchanges or disposes of a business sells or
otherwise conveys in bulk and not in the ordinary course of the
covered employer's business a major part of the property,
whether real or personal, tangible or intangible, of the covered
employer's business.
"Ticketed event." A sporting, entertainment, civic,
charitable or other event that requires a ticket for admission.
The ticket may be electronic, physical or a name on a list held
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by the event organizer.
"Trade name." As defined in 54 Pa.C.S. § 1102.
"Work schedule." All of an employee's shifts and on-call
shifts, including specific start and end times for each shift,
during a workweek.
"Workweek." A period of seven consecutive days beginning on
a designated day.
"Written communication." Communication by print or
electronic means, including e-mail, text messages, use of
scheduling applications or other forms of communication that can
be saved in their original format.
Section 3. Advance notice of work schedules.
(a) General rule.--Upon hiring an employee, a covered
employer shall provide the employee with a written, good faith
estimate of the employee's work schedule. The covered employer
shall revise the good faith estimate when there is a significant
change to the employee's work schedule due to changes in the
employee's availability or to the covered employer's business
needs. The good faith estimate is not a binding contractual
offer binding the covered employer. An estimate made without a
good faith basis shall be a violation of this section. The good
faith estimate shall contain:
(1) The average number of work hours the employee can
expect to work each week over a typical 90-day period.
(2) Whether the employee can expect to work any on-call
shifts.
(3) A subset of days and a subset of times or shifts
that the employee can typically expect to work or days of the
week and times or shifts on which the employee will not be
scheduled to work.
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(b) Work schedule requests.--At the time of hire and during
employment, an employee has the right to make work schedule
requests. A covered employer may grant or deny the request for
any reason that is not unlawful. The work schedule requests may
include, but are not limited to:
(1) Requests not to be scheduled for work shifts during
certain days or times or at certain locations.
(2) Requests not to work on-call shifts.
(3) Requests for certain hours, days or locations of
work.
(4) Requests for more or fewer work hours.
(c) Written work schedule.--At the commencement of
employment, a covered employer shall provide an employee with a
written work schedule that runs through the last date of the
currently posted schedule. Thereafter, a covered employer shall
provide advanced written notice of work hours as provided under
subsection (d). Nothing under this section shall be construed to
prohibit a covered employer from providing greater advance
notice of employees' work schedules and changes in schedules as
required by this section.
(d) Advanced notice.--Written notice of the work schedule
shall be provided in a conspicuous and accessible location where
employee notices are customarily posted. If a covered employer
posts the notice in electronic format, all employees in the
workplace shall have access to the notice onsite. The posted
work schedule shall include the employees' shifts at that work
site, whether or not employees are scheduled to work or be on
call, and shall be posted no later than 14 days before the first
day of the new schedule beginning January 1, 2022.
(e) Changes to work schedule.--If the covered employer
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requests changes to the written work schedule after the advanced
notice required under subsection (d) has been posted, the
following shall apply:
(1) The covered employer shall provide the employee with
timely notice of the change by in-person conversation,
telephone call, e-mail, text message or other accessible
electronic or written format.
(2) The employee may decline to work any shifts not
included in the employee's written work schedule. If the
employee voluntarily consents to work the hours, the consent
shall be recorded by written communication. A written
communication of an employee's desire to work shifts made
available under section 6 shall constitute written consent.
Section 4. Compensation for changed work schedules.
(a) General rule.--For each covered employer-initiated
change to the posted work schedule that occurs after the
advanced notice required under section 3(d) has been posted, a
covered employer shall pay an employee predictability pay at the
following rates, in addition to the employee's regular pay for
hours actually worked by the employee:
(1) One hour at the employee's regular rate of pay when
the covered employer adds time to a work shift or changes the
date, time or location of a work shift, with no loss of
hours.
(2) No less than one-half of the employee's regular rate
of pay per hour for any scheduled hours the employee does not
work for the following reasons:
(i) hours are subtracted from a regular or on-call
shift; or
(ii) a regular or on-call shift is canceled.
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(3) No less than two-thirds of the employee's regular
rate of pay per hour if a regular or on-call shift is
canceled or reduced two days or less prior to the start of
the shift.
(b) Exception.--A covered employer is not required to pay
additional compensation under subsection (a) to an employee
under this section or obtain written consent under section 3(d)
if:
(1) An employee requests a shift change by written
communication, including, but not limited to, voluntary
additions or subtractions of hours that are initiated by the
employee or the use of sick leave, vacation leave or other
leave policies offered by the covered employer.
(2) A schedule change is the result of a mutually
agreed-upon shift trade or coverage arrangement between
employees, subject to any covered employer's policy regarding
required conditions for employees to exchange shifts.
(3) The covered employer's operations cannot begin or
continue due to:
(i) threats to the employees or the covered
employer's property;
(ii) the failure of a public utility or the shutdown
of public transportation;
(iii) a fire, flood or other natural disaster;
(iv) a state of emergency declared by the President
of the United States or the Governor; or
(v) severe weather conditions that disrupt
transportation or pose a threat to employee safety.
(4) An employee begins or ends work no more than 20
minutes before or after the scheduled start or end time of
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the shift.
(5) An employee volunteers to work additional hours in
response to a mass written communication from the covered
employer about the availability of additional hours, provided
that the mass communication is only used for additional hours
that are the result of another employee being unable to work
scheduled hours, and the communication makes clear that
accepting the hours is voluntary and the employee has the
right to decline the hours.
(6) Employee hours are subtracted due to termination of
employment or the covered employer subtracts hours from an
employee's work schedule for disciplinary reasons under a
multiday suspension, provided the employer documents in
writing the incident leading to the disciplinary action.
(7) A ticketed event is canceled, rescheduled,
postponed, delayed, increases in expected attendance by 20%
or more or changes in duration due to circumstances that are
outside the covered employer's control and that occur after
the covered employer provides the posted work schedule with
the advanced notice required under section 3(d). Additional
hours due to a change in a ticketed event's duration that
fall within this exemption shall also be fully exempt from
section 3(d).
Section 5. Right to rest between work shifts.
(a) General rule.--
(1) An employee may decline, without penalty, any work
hours that are scheduled or otherwise occur:
(i) less than eleven hours after the end of the
previous day's shift; or
(ii) during the eleven hours following the end of a
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shift that spanned two days.
(2) An employee may consent to work shifts under
paragraph (1). Consent shall be provided by written
communication, either for each shift or for multiple shifts
and may be revoked by written communication at any time
during employment.
(b) Compensation.--A covered employer shall compensate the
employee for each instance that the employee works a shift
described under subsection (a) in the amount of $40 for each
shift.
Section 6. Offer of work to existing employees.
(a) General rule.--Before hiring a new employee from an
external applicant pool or a subcontractor, including hiring
through the use of temporary services or staffing agencies, a
covered employer shall offer work shifts to existing employees
as provided under this section.
(b) Notice.--The covered employer shall provide written
notice of available work shifts for at least 72 hours unless a
shorter period is necessary in order for the work to be timely
performed. The following shall apply:
(1) The notice shall be in English and in the primary
language of the employees at the particular workplace and
posted in a conspicuous location at the workplace that is
readily accessible and visible to all employees. The notice
shall also be provided electronically to each employee if the
covered employer customarily communicates scheduling
information in an electronic form to employees.
(2) The notice shall include a description of the
position and its required qualifications, the schedule of
available shifts, the length of time the covered employer
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anticipates requiring coverage of the additional hours and
the process by which an employee may notify the covered
employer of the employee's desire to work the offered shifts.
(3) The covered employer may provide the notice
concurrently at the location where the shifts described in
the notice will be worked, locations other than the location
where the work is to be performed and to external candidates.
(c) Existing employees.--A covered employer shall distribute
shifts, in accordance with the criteria contained in the notice
required under subsection (b)(2) to one or more existing
employees who have accepted the shifts and who, to a reasonable
covered employer acting in good faith, are qualified to perform
the work, provided that:
(1) A covered employer shall distribute shifts to
employees whose regular workplace is the location where the
shifts described in the notice will be worked or, if no
employee accepts the shifts within the time as provided under
this section and it is a regular practice of the covered
employer to schedule employees across multiple locations, to
employees whose regular workplace is a covered location other
than the location where the shifts will be worked. If it is
not a regular practice of the covered employer, offering
additional shifts to employees at a different location shall
be at the option of the covered employer.
(2) The covered employer's system for distribution of
hours may not discriminate on the basis of race, color,
creed, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual
orientation, gender identity, disability, age, marital or
familial status or on the basis of family caregiving
responsibilities or status as a student, and the covered
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employer may not distribute hours in a manner intended to
avoid application of the Patient Protection and Affordable
Care Act (Public Law 111-148, 124 Stat. 119).
(d) External applicants.--A covered employer may hire
individuals from an external applicant pool or subcontractors to
perform the work described in, and in accordance with the
criteria provided in, the notice posted under subsection (b)(2)
if the covered employer provides notice of available work shifts
as required under this section and:
(1) no employee accepts the offer of available work
shifts within 24 hours of the end of the 72-hour-posting
period;
(2) the covered employer receives written confirmation
from eligible employees that they are not interested in
accepting the available work shifts; or
(3) existing employees have accepted a subset of the
offered work shifts, in which case the existing employees
shall be awarded that subset of work shifts, and external
applicants may be offered the remaining shifts.
(e) Construction.--This section shall not be construed to
require a covered employer to offer employees work hours paid at
a premium rate under Federal or State law or to prohibit a
covered employer from offering the work hours.
(f) Notice of policy.--A covered employer shall notify an
employee by written communication of the covered employer's
policy for offering and distributing work shifts under this
section at the time of hire and within 24 hours of any change in
the policy and shall post the notice in an accessible location
in the workplace. The notice shall include:
(1) Where an employee can access written notices of
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available work shifts.
(2) The process by which an employee may notify the
covered employer of the employee's desire to work the
available work shifts.
(3) The criteria for distribution of work shifts among
qualified and interested employees.
(g) Rules and regulations.--The department shall promulgate
rules and regulations limiting the applicability of this section
with regard to trainees who work for a limited time at a
particular location.
Section 7. Exercise of rights protected and retaliation
prohibited.
(a) General rule.--It shall be unlawful for a covered
employer or any other person to interfere with, restrain or deny
the exercise of, or the attempt to exercise, any right under
this act.
(b) Adverse action prohibited.--No person shall take any
adverse action that penalizes an employee for, or is reasonably
likely to deter the employee from, exercising or attempting to
exercise any right under this act.
(c) Applicability.--Protections under this section shall
apply to any individual who mistakenly but in good faith alleges
violations of this act.
(d) Rebuttable presumption.--It shall be considered a
rebuttable presumption of retaliation if the covered employer or
any other person takes an adverse action against an employee
within 90 calendar days of the employee's exercise of rights
protected under this section unless due to disciplinary reasons
for just cause, provided the covered employer documents in
writing the incident relating to the employee's discipline. In
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the case of seasonal employment that ended before the close of
the 90-calendar-day period, the presumption also applies if the
covered employer fails to rehire a former employee at the next
opportunity for work in the same position.
(e) Definition.--As used in this section, the term "adverse
action" means the following:
(1) Threatening, intimidating, disciplining,
discharging, demoting, suspending or harassing an employee.
(2) Assigning an employee to a lesser position in terms
of job classification, job security or other condition of
employment.
(3) Reducing the hours or pay of an employee or denying
the employee additional hours.
(4) Discriminating against the employee, including
actions or threats related to perceived immigration status or
work authorization.
Section 8. Enforcement.
(a) Duties of secretary.--The secretary shall have the duty
to:
(1) Enforce and administer the provisions of this act.
(2) Investigate any alleged violations of this act.
(3) Institute prosecutions and actions as provided under
this act.
(b) Prohibition.--Nothing in this act shall authorize the
secretary to initiate a civil action for unpaid wages which are
subject to disposition under grievance and arbitration
procedures of a collective bargaining agreement.
(c) Rules and regulations.--The department may promulgate
rules and regulations necessary to administer this act.
Section 9. Notice.
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(a) Posting requirement.--Each covered employer shall post
and keep posted, in conspicuous and accessible places on the
premises of the covered employer where notices to employees and
applicants for employment are customarily posted, a notice, to
be prepared or approved by the department, providing the rights
and privileges provided under this act, stating that retaliation
against employees for exercising rights under this act is
prohibited and providing other information as the department may
require. The notice shall be posted in English and in the
primary language of the employees at the particular worksite.
(b) Notice of right to report improper suspension.--An
employee who receives reduced hours due to a multiday
disciplinary suspension under section 4(b)(6) shall be given
written notice. If the employee believes the suspension was
improperly imposed to manipulate or reduce the employee's
schedule in violation of this act, the employee may report the
suspension to the department to investigate.
Section 10. Covered employer records.
(a) General rule.--A covered employer shall keep records
necessary to demonstrate compliance with this act, including,
but not limited to, good faith estimates of work schedules and
any modifications, written consent for work shifts as required
by this act, offers of work shifts to existing employees and
responses to those offers and payroll records that specify the
amount of additional compensation paid to employees under
sections 4 and 5. Covered employers shall retain the records for
a period of two years and shall allow the department access to
the records, with appropriate notice and at a mutually agreeable
time, to monitor compliance with the requirements of this act.
When an issue arises as to a covered employer's compliance with
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this act, if the covered employer does not maintain or retain
adequate records documenting compliance or does not allow the
department reasonable access to the records within 30 days of
the department's request, it shall be presumed that the covered
employer has violated this act, absent clear and convincing
evidence otherwise.
(b) Work schedules.--Upon request by an employee, and in
accordance with the rules and regulations of the department, a
covered employer shall provide the employee with work schedules
for all employees at the location in writing for any previous
week for the past two years, including the originally posted and
modified versions of work schedules.
Section 11. Collective bargaining.
Any provisions of this act may be waived in a bona fide
collective bargaining agreement, but only if the waiver is
explicitly provided in the agreement in clear and unmistakable
terms and only if the agreement is in effect contractually.
Unilateral implementation of terms and conditions of employment
by either party to a collective bargaining relationship shall
not constitute, or be permitted, as a waiver of any part of the
provisions of this act.
Section 12. Enforcement and penalties.
(a) Reporting.--An employee or other individual may report
to the department any suspected violation of this act.
(b) Duties of department.--The department shall take steps
as it deems appropriate to resolve complaints and enforce this
act, including, but not limited to, establishing a system to
receive complaints regarding noncompliance with this act and
investigating alleged violations in a timely manner. The
department may open an investigation on its own initiative.
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(c) Filing complaint.--An individual alleging a violation of
this act shall file a complaint with the department within two
years of the date the individual knew or should have known of
the alleged violation. The identity of a complainant shall
remain confidential unless disclosure of the complainant's
identity is necessary for resolution of any investigation by the
department or otherwise required by law. The department shall,
to the extent practicable, notify the complainant that the
department will be disclosing the complainant's identity prior
to the disclosure.
(d) Investigation.--Upon receiving a complaint alleging a
violation of this act, the department shall investigate the
complaint. The department may designate representatives to
inspect worksites and access records required to be maintained
under section 10. The department shall keep complainants
reasonably notified regarding the status of the complaint and a
resulting investigation.
(e) Subpoena power.--The department shall have the power to
subpoena records and testimony from any party to a complaint.
The records shall be provided to the department within 30 days
after receipt of the subpoena.
(f) Penalties and fines.--The department shall have the
power to impose penalties and fines for a violation of this act
and to provide or obtain appropriate relief. Remedies may
include reinstatement and full restitution to the employee for
lost wages and benefits, including predictability pay required
under section 4. A covered employer that violates this act shall
be fined:
(1) For a violation of section 9:
(i) For a first violation, $500.
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(ii) For a second violation, $1,000.
(iii) For a third or subsequent violation, $2,000.
(2) For a violation of any other provision of this act:
(i) For a first violation, $1,000.
(ii) For a second violation, $1,500.
(iii) For a third or subsequent violation, $3,000.
(g) Civil action.--The department, an individual aggrieved
by a violation of this act or an entity, a member of which is
aggrieved by a violation of this act, may bring a civil action
in a court of competent jurisdiction against a covered employer
that has violated this act. The following shall apply:
(1) If during the pendency of a determination by the
department, prior to the issuance of a final decision, an
employee brings a private action under this act in a court of
competent jurisdiction seeking relief based upon the same
facts and allegations as the employee's complaint under this
act, or affirmatively or by consent opts to participate in
litigation, that employee's complaint to the department shall
be deemed withdrawn with respect to any respondent covered
employer named as a defendant in a court action.
(2) Nothing in this act or its implementing regulations
shall be construed to require a complaint to be filed with
the department before bringing an action in court or before
another governmental agency.
(3) Upon prevailing in an action brought under this
section, an aggrieved individual shall recover the full
amount of unpaid compensation, including predictability pay,
to which the individual would have been entitled under this
act, any wages and benefits lost, presumed damages under
subsection (f) and department regulations, other damages
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suffered as the result of the covered employer's violation of
this act and an equal amount, up to a maximum of $2,000, as
liquidated damages. An aggrieved individual shall also be
entitled to an award of reasonable attorney fees and costs.
(4) Upon prevailing in an action brought under this
section, an aggrieved individual shall be entitled to any
legal or equitable relief as may be appropriate to remedy the
violation, which may not be duplicative of relief provided to
the individual in administrative proceedings, including,
without limitation, reinstatement in employment, back pay and
injunctive relief.
(h) Statute of limitations.--The statute of limitations for
a civil action brought under this section shall be two years
from the date the alleged violation occurred.
Section 13. Applicability.
This act shall not apply to a covered employer in a city of
the first class.
Section 14. Effective date.
This act shall take effect in 90 days.
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