Seattle's Secure Scheduling Ordinance (SMC 14.22) covers hourly employees working within Seattle city limits in the following categories of businesses:
- Retail and food service establishments with 500+ employees worldwide
- Full service restaurants with 500+ employees and 40+ full-service restaurant locations worldwide
Important Note:
- To determine employer coverage, count employees worldwide regardless of where those employees are employed, including but not limited to chains, integrated enterprises, or franchises associated with a franchisor or network of franchises that employ 500 or more employees in aggregate. In addition to employing 500 or more employees worldwide, "full service restaurants" also must have 40 or more full service restaurant locations worldwide, including but not limited to locations that are a part of a chain, integrated enterprise, or franchise where the franchisor owns or operates 40 or more such establishments in aggregate.
- Separate entities that form an integrated enterprise shall be considered a single employer under this ordinance. Separate entities will be considered an integrated enterprise and a single employer under this ordinance where a separate entity controls the operation of another entity. The factors to consider include, but are not limited to:
- Degree of interrelation between the operations of multiple entities
- Degree to which the entities share common management
- Centralized control of labor relations
- Degree of common ownership or financial control over the entities
- Example: A “Subway” franchisee/owner with a location(s) in Seattle would fall under the Secure Scheduling Ordinance because Subway has a worldwide employee network of over 500 employees.
Employer requirements are as follows:
- Secure Scheduling workplace poster must be displayed in English and the language(s) spoken by employees
- Secure Scheduling Workplace Posters (in English and other translated languages) can be downloaded here:
- Printed OLS Workplace Posters are available free of charge from ECCC outreach partners. Complete the intake form for assistance with this:
- Printed OLS Workplace Posters can also be picked up at all Seattle Customer Service Centers, and at the OLS office at 810 Third Avenue, Suite 375 in downtown Seattle.
- For the upcoming year, provide a Good Faith Estimate of the median hours an employee can expect to work and whether to expect on-call shifts
- Before the work schedule is posted, employer must grant schedule requests related to a major life event (employee’s transportation, housing, other job(s), education, caregiving, and self-care for serious health condition) unless the employer identifies a bona fide business reason (significant cost or disruption)
- Employer must post work schedules 14 days in advance
- Employer must pay time-and-a-half for any hours worked between closing and opening shifts that are separated by less than 10 hours
- Before hiring new employees, employer must post notice of available hours for 3 days and offer the job to qualified, current employee(s), subject to exceptions
- Premium pay for work schedule changes after schedule is posted
- Additional Hours: Employer must provide an additional hour of pay, plus wages earned
- Subtracted Hours: Employer must pay for half of the hours not worked, plus wages earned, for regular and on-call shifts
- Exceptions noted on the Secure Scheduling Workplace Poster