Tipping introduces bill to require large employers to give workers better notice of schedules

AUGUSTA – On Thursday, Sen. Mike Tipping, D-Orono, introduced a bill to ensure employees of big businesses have reasonable notice of their work schedule. LD 1190, “An Act to Ensure a Fair Workweek by Requiring Notice of Work Schedules,” was the subject of a public hearing in the Legislature’s Labor and Housing Committee.

“Many large businesses have also moved to a just-in-time model for scheduling their employees. They now use algorithms to track and predict their staffing needs, modifying work schedules on the fly and at the last minute. While this allows businesses to be more efficient, it places a very real burden on workers, who must keep their schedules open in order to work on short notice. This burden falls most heavily on those who care for children or older family members, work multiple jobs, or who have disabilities or difficulty accessing reliable transportation,” said Sen. Tipping, who serves as Senate Chair of the Labor and Housing Committee. “It’s hard to quantify the cost to employees of lost time and opportunities, stress and worry, and damage to their physical and financial health that precarious schedules can cause. This bill attempts to lessen that in a small way, in line with laws in other jurisdictions across the country.”

LD 1190 would require employers with 250 or more employees to provide hourly employees at least two weeks’ prior notice of the employees’ work schedules, with compensation owed for late schedule changes under certain circumstances. The bill also would require these employers to keep certain business records for at least 3 years. The bill provides that the Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Standards may investigate possible violations and receive complaints of possible violations. The bureau would be required to report to the Legislature periodically on violations and the bureau’s efforts.

The bill faces further action in committee.