New York’s predictive scheduling law is a New York City ordinance called the Fair Workweek Law, and it covers two groups of workers: employees of large fast food chains and employees of larger retail businesses inside the five boroughs. It requires advance written schedules, pays workers a premium when the employer changes those schedules on short notice, restricts back-to-back closing and opening shifts at fast food restaurants, and gives fast food workers job protections that most private-sector employees in the United States do not have. The rules for fast food workers are stronger than the rules for retail workers, so the first question is which category your workplace falls into.
Who the Law Covers
A fast food establishment is covered if it belongs to a chain with 30 or more locations nationally, regardless of whether the individual location is franchised. The business has to be a limited-service restaurant where customers order and pay before eating. Covered workers include anyone cooking, cleaning, stocking, or serving customers at those locations. Salaried managers who meet the federal executive exemption fall outside the scheduling protections.1U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 17A: Exemption for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Computer and Outside Sales Employees Under the FLSA
A retail employer is covered if it employs 20 or more workers within New York City and is primarily engaged in selling consumer goods. Retail workers get a narrower set of protections: a shorter advance-notice window, no fixed-dollar schedule change premiums, and no just cause or access-to-hours rights.
Advance Notice of Your Schedule
Fast food employers must give each worker a regular schedule that stays the same week to week, and they must provide a written work schedule at least 14 days before the first day of the schedule period. The schedule has to be posted in a visible spot in the workplace and sent to each worker electronically, either by email or through a scheduling app. Employers are required to keep copies of all schedules for three years.2NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. Fair Workweek Law: Information for Fast Food Employers
Retail employers work on a shorter clock. Schedules must be posted and provided to employees at least 72 hours before the first shift on the schedule. On-call scheduling is banned outright for retail. Your employer cannot require you to be available for a shift without committing to actually scheduling you, and it cannot make you call in within 72 hours to find out whether you need to show up.3NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. Fair Workweek Law in Retail: Frequently Asked Questions
Premiums When a Fast Food Schedule Changes
Once the 14-day window closes, changes to a fast food worker’s schedule trigger fixed-dollar premiums paid on top of regular wages. The amount depends on the type of change and how much notice you got.4New York City Council. Department of Consumer and Worker Protection Notice of Adoption of Final Rule
- Date or time change with no lost hours, 7 to 14 days’ notice: $10 per change.
- Added hours with less than 7 days’ notice: $15 per change.
- Canceled or reduced hours with less than 7 days’ notice: $45 per change.
- Canceled or reduced hours with less than 24 hours’ notice: $75 per change.
The notice clock runs from the first day of the schedule period, not from the specific shift being changed. If your schedule starts Monday and your employer emails on the prior Thursday to cancel your Friday shift, that is less than seven days’ notice, and the $45 premium applies. Premiums should appear as a separate line item on your paycheck.
You can also refuse added hours or shifts that were not on the original schedule.5NYC311. Fair Workweek Law If you accept the extra work, the employer still owes the premium. If you decline, the employer cannot punish you for saying no.
How Retail Schedule Changes Are Penalized
Retail does not use the fixed-dollar tier. If an employer cancels a retail shift with less than 72 hours’ notice, adds hours without 72 hours’ notice and your written consent, or schedules an on-call shift, the employer may owe damages sufficient to make the worker whole, plus a $500 fine per on-call shift violation. Repeat violators face escalating penalties.3NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. Fair Workweek Law in Retail: Frequently Asked Questions
The 11-Hour Rest Rule Between Shifts
Fast food employers cannot schedule a worker for two shifts with fewer than 11 hours between the end of one and the start of the next. The target is “clopening,” the practice of having someone close the restaurant late at night and open it again the next morning. You can consent to work a clopening, but the consent must be in writing and given before the shift starts. Even with consent, the employer owes a flat $100 premium for each clopening shift worked.4New York City Council. Department of Consumer and Worker Protection Notice of Adoption of Final Rule Both the written consent and the premium payment must be documented in the employer’s records.
Existing Fast Food Workers Get First Crack at New Hours
Before hiring new workers or using a staffing agency, a fast food employer must first offer available shifts to current employees. The employer must also offer reinstatement to any worker laid off for economic reasons within the previous 12 months before turning to outside candidates.6NYC Administrative Code. NYC Administrative Code 20-1241 – Offering Additional Shifts to Current Fast Food Employees
The offer has to be posted for three consecutive calendar days in a visible location and sent electronically to every employee. It has to include the number of shifts, the schedule, how long coverage is needed, and how the employer will distribute the shifts if more than one person accepts. Workers at the location where the shifts will be performed get priority, though employees at other locations owned by the same employer can accept as well. Only after the three-day window closes without takers can the employer hire externally. This rule does not apply to retail.
Just Cause Before Firing a Fast Food Worker
Since July 2021, a fast food employer in New York City cannot fire a worker who has finished the probation period without just cause or a legitimate economic reason. This is unusually strong protection given that most private-sector work in the United States is at-will, and it applies only to fast food.
Just cause generally requires the employer to show that the worker knew the rule that was broken, received adequate training, was subject to a fair investigation, and that the discipline policy was applied consistently. Except for egregious misconduct, the employer must have used progressive discipline and cannot rely on disciplinary actions more than a year old.7NYC Administrative Code. NYC Administrative Code 20-1272 – Prohibition on Wrongful Discharge
Within five days of the firing, the employer has to give the worker a written explanation of the specific reasons. Any reason not included in that written notice cannot be raised later to defend the discharge.
Retaliation Is Prohibited
Employers cannot punish, penalize, or take adverse action against a worker for using their rights under the law. That includes filing a complaint, refusing a clopening, declining added hours, or asking about scheduling rules. Retaliation can take the form of demotion, cut hours, reassignment to undesirable shifts, or anything else that would deter a reasonable worker from asserting their rights.2NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. Fair Workweek Law: Information for Fast Food Employers A short gap between the protected activity and the adverse action strengthens a retaliation claim.
Filing a Complaint
Workers who believe an employer is violating the law can report it to the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. The most direct route is the agency’s online complaint portal, where you can submit the nature of the violation, the dates, and supporting documents like schedule screenshots and pay stubs.8NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. File Workplace Complaint – DCWP You can also call 311 for information about the Office of Labor Policy and Standards.
You do not need a lawyer to file. After a complaint, DCWP may audit the employer’s payroll and scheduling records, and outcomes can include back pay, unpaid premiums, and civil penalties. Keep your own copies of schedules, pay stubs, and any texts or emails about schedule changes. Employers must retain scheduling records for three years, but the records that matter most in a dispute are the ones you control.
Where the Law Does Not Reach
The Fair Workweek Law is a New York City ordinance. New York State has no statewide predictive scheduling law, so workers outside the five boroughs have no equivalent protections unless a local government enacts its own rules. At the federal level, the Schedules That Work Act was reintroduced in the Senate in December 2025 and referred to committee, but it has not advanced.9Congress.gov. S.3550 – Schedules That Work Act If you work in fast food or retail inside city limits, these protections apply whether or not your employer acknowledges them.