A group of influential Democratic legislators is poised to introduce a bill that could upend the way Colorado restaurants and retailers schedule their workers, seeking to give those employees more certainty in when they must be on the job and extra pay if schedules change.
The “Fair Workweek Employment Standards” bill would require employers to offer schedules at least two weeks in advance and mandate companies pay workers at a greater rate if they are asked to add hours during that period — or pay them if they have hours cut on short notice. It also would require employers to offer part-time workers more hours before hiring new workers, at risk of a significant penalty, and would create a private right of action for employees to sue employers accused of breaking the law.
Sen. Faith Winter, the Westminster Democrat co-sponsoring the bill in her chamber with Denver Democratic Sen. Julie Gonzales, said she aims to help low-income Coloradans who often must work multiple jobs and suffer from schedules that change from day to day. Without foreknowledge of when they will be asked to wait tables or work registers, those people have trouble lining up child care, and last-minute reductions in work hours cause them trouble paying their bills, she said.
“For employers, you’re going to see increased retention and increased productivity, which everyone is looking for right now,” Winter said, pointing to studies showing those outcomes in places that have passed similar laws. “For...
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