Our Massachusetts Jobs with Justice team led the charge as dozens of community organizers, workers, union leaders, and faith-based advocates logged on to the State House meeting on Tuesday, July 13th. Partners in our coalition showed up in droves to testify to the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development in favor of House Bill 1974/Senate Bill 1236 An Act Relative to the Scheduling of Employees, more commonly known as the Fair Work Week bill. 

The bill is designed to provide much needed legislative rights and protection for workers’ schedules. Currently, unpredictable hours and inconsistent pay prevent workers from coordinating child and elder care, making doctor’s appointments, finding time to attend to their families, and to rest.

Workers would be given the:

• Right to Advanced Notice

  • Requiring employers to post schedules 14 days ahead of shifts 

• Right to Rest

  • Requiring that employers allow for 11 hours of rest between shifts for workers, addressing the problem of back-to-back scheduling

• Right to Offer of New Work

  • Requiring employers to offer new shifts to existing employees first 

• Right to Unemployment Benefits

  • Allowing workers to collect unemployment benefits if the worker quits, because their employer is not abiding by these standards.

Many stories were shared during the virtual public hearing, on the impacts that unfair scheduling practices have on us as individuals and communities, and what Fair Workweek legislation could mean for workers going forward. Representatives from Matahari Women Workers Center, UFCW, MassCOSH, the Jewish Labor Committee, Mass. Teachers Assc., and more showed up to give their experiences without these protections. Some spoke of the undue burden that unfair scheduling practices poses to Black and Brown women, and immigrant workers, both are groups who make up a majority of the restaurant, retail and hospitality workforce that would be impacted by this bill. Others shared their impact on their mental health and their family lives.

On the other side of over twenty supporting testimonies, two business representatives opposed the bill on grounds of profit losses and restrictions to small businesses. However, the Fair Work Week bill will not impact companies with fewer than fifty employees, as it was designed to target major employers, rather than small, locally owned businesses. As for profit margins, research coming out of the Harvard Business Review, the University of Chicago, and the Center for American Progress shows increasing benefits for companies that avoid just-in-time scheduling. Giving people their preferred hours leads to higher quality labor, lower absenteeism, longer retained staff, and higher profits, giving a firm rebuke to these  specific business interest’s claims. Read more about it here.

We’re now looking out to see when the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development will schedule a meeting to vote on the bill. We intend to keep urging them to vote the bill favorably out of committee, for the strength and stability of Massachusetts workers, families and communities. 

In the words of food worker Kathleen Talbot, it’s time for the legislature to “show those of us that work in the food and beverage industry that we matter, that our families matter.” Join us and learn more about winning a Fair Workweek here.