PHILADELPHIA — The Office of Benefits and Wage Compliance within the Mayor’s Office of Labor today announced the final regulations for Philadelphia’s Fair Workweek law. The law provides service, hospitality and retail workers under covered employers with specific rights and protections. They include the right to a predictable schedule, the right to new hours, the right to nine hours rest between shifts, protections from retaliation, and other protections.
Covered employers must provide a predictable schedule under this law by providing all employees with a written good faith estimate of an average work week and 10 days advanced notice of their work schedule. An estimated 130,000 Philadelphia workers will be impacted by the law, including housekeepers, retail staff, cooks and servers. The text of the law, a notice poster for employers (available in multiple languages), and final regulations can be found on the Mayor’s Office of Labor website.
“I am proud that Philadelphia has passed a number of progressive worker protection laws in recent years, but we also know there is still more work to do,” said Mayor Kenney. “In order for these laws to be effective, workers must be aware of their rights and understand how to file complaints. That is why our administration has added funding for the Office of Labor to expand its staff, with a focus on outreach and enforcement. In 2020 and beyond, our team will be conducting outreach to both workers and employers to educate them on our laws—including Fair Workweek, wage theft, and sick leave. As a pro-worker city, it is critical we do all we can to ensure folks are being properly protected.”
The regulations were finalized after an extensive process which involved input from 15 key stakeholders, a 30-day public comment period, and a public hearing. The Mayor’s Office of Labor produced reports on both the public comment period and the public hearing for draft regulations that was held on November 18, 2019. Both reports are available online on the Department of Records website.
The regulations provide additional guidance and clarification on the law, including examples of good faith estimates and the categories of covered workers. The regulations also reiterate the delay in the law’s effect date to April 1, 2020 from January 1, 2020—the original effect date. The Fair Workweek law requires covered employers to provide good faith estimates of average work schedules to existing employees. The final regulations state that the good faith estimates requirement for existing employees will not be in effect until July 1, 2020. However, the good faith estimates should be provided to newly hired employees as defined by the law and regulations beginning with the April 1, 2020 effect date.
“The regulations, including the delays to the effect date and good faith estimates requirement, are a step towards ensuring this law is properly followed,” said Amanda Shimko, Director of the Office of Benefits and Wage Compliance. “It gives businesses the opportunity to be compliant and ensure that covered workers are treated fairly during the process of implementing the law’s requirements. With the delays written into the regulations, there is now no excuse for failing to be in compliance.”
The Office of Benefits and Wage Compliance recommends that businesses begin making efforts to get into compliance now. Most impacted businesses will require a change of operations, but if they start working on those changes early, they will be able to identify and address any challenges before the official effect date of April 1, 2020.
As with all laws the office enforces, the Office of Benefits and Wage Compliance will host multilingual outreach events in neighborhoods across Philadelphia. The office will also run public service announcements and business trainings regarding the Fair Workweek law.
The Office of Benefit and Wage Compliance is working on a Frequently Asked Questions document that will be posted to the Fair Workweek resources page online before the April 1, 2020 effect date.
Employers can request compliance assistance or ask questions, and employees can find out if they are covered or request a training, by contacting the Office of Benefits and Wage Compliance at 215-686-0802 or fairworkweek@phila.gov.