Simplify compliance with Los Angeles Fair Workweek
- Create good faith estimates of work schedules
- Minimize schedule change premium pay with advance notice of shifts
- Pay the right premiums for last minute changes to schedules
- Give your team downtime to avoid clopening penalties


The Los Angeles Fair Workweek Ordinance
On April 1, 2023, LA will join other cities and states across the country with its own Fair Work Week Ordinance.
According to the Society of Human Resource Management, the Los Angeles Fair Work Week Ordinance will apply to retail businesses that have at least 300 employees worldwide, including franchises. Employees who qualify for minimum wage and perform at least two hours of work in a workweek in Los Angeles will be covered by the ordinance, which contains a host of complicated scheduling, and record-keeping requirements.
The ordinance is scheduled to go into effect on April 1, 2023. Is your business ready?

Elements of the Los Angeles Fair Workweek Ordinance
The ordinance requires retail employers to provide candidates with a good faith estimate of their work schedule before hiring them; and provide a good faith estimate to existing employees within 10 days of their request. It also requires 14 day advance notice of work schedules as well as employee consent and premium pay for changes to the work schedule.
Also included are requirements to offer available shifts to existing employees before hiring new employees, and restrictions on clopening shifts.

Penalties and enforcement
If an employer is found to be in violation of the ordinance, fines and penalties can include the employee’s lost wages and sick time benefits, attorneys’ fees, reinstatement of employment, as well as monetary fines of up to $120 per employee per day, as well as reinstatement, injunctive relief, and event attorney’s fees. Additionally, a one-time penalty for each violation, which does not accrue daily, is allowed up to $500 per violation of each section of the ordinance.
Did you know that businesses across the U.S. in cities with fair work week laws paid more than $27 million in violations last year? That includes fines and restitutions paid by the following businesses in 2022: Chipotle, Shake Shack, McDonald’s, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, and Del Frisco’s.
We keep up to date with Fair workweek
"Our in-house employment attorneys partner with several leading employment law firms in the United States to keep up to date on the evolving fair workweek legal landscape."
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Five ways Deputy helps you stay compliant with Los Angeles Fair Workweek

1. Good Faith Estimate
Provide an estimate of work days, times & locations
Before a new team member starts their first shift, provide an estimate of where, when, and how often they’ll work. Issue a digital copy via Deputy, capture employee confirmation, and create an electronic record of compliance.

2. Advanced notice of schedules
Give early notice of shifts & minimize predictability pay
Create perfect schedules well in advance and share them with your employees instantly. Plan your team’s shifts based on accurate demand forecasts, publish schedules via web or app, and minimize compensation payments for last-minute changes.

4. Rest between shifts
Give staff enough downtime & avoid clopening penalties
Clopening is when employees work a closing and opening shift back to back without enough rest. When you build schedules in Deputy, we’ll alert you when staff are at risk of clopening, calculate the required compensation, and help you find employees who can work the shifts without penalties.

5. Access to hours
Give your current staff first pick of available shifts
When new shifts become available, employers need to give their current part-time staff the opportunity to claim those hours before they hire new team members. That’s straightforward with Deputy News feed: just post a notice for all the suitable employees and create a transparent record of compliance.
Why choose Deputy?
Deputy is at the forefront of helping American retailers, restaurants, fast food franchises, and other hospitality businesses manage fair workweek compliance. Our in-house employment attorneys and legal experts consult with government bodies, leading employment law firms, and business owners to keep our software configured to the latest regulations and employer requirements.

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Frequently asked questions
- What is the Los Angeles Fair Workweek Ordinance?
The City of Los Angeles Fair Work Week Ordinance (FWWO) is being implemented to provide workers of large retail businesses with stable and predictable schedules, opportunities to become full-time employees and other employment protections. The Ordinance will go into effect on April 1, 2023 with an initial grace period of 180 days focused on employer education and outreach. Full enforcement of the FWWO, including fines and penalties, will begin on September 28, 2023.
Who is considered a covered employer and employee by the Los Angeles Fair Workweek Ordinance ?
A covered employer is any retail business under the NAICS retail categories 44-45 that has at least 300 employees globally, and exercises control, directly or indirectly over the wages, hours or worker conditions of any employee.
A covered employee is any individual who, in any particular week, performs at least two (2) hours of work within the geographic boundaries of the City of Los Angeles for a covered employer, and who is entitled to earn the California minimum wage (a nonexempt employee).
All covered employees are entitled to the benefits and protections of the Fair Workweek law, regardless of immigration status or employment status whether they are full-time, part-time, seasonal, or temporary.
- Where can I find a copy of the Los Angeles Fair Workweek Ordinance notice?
Information about the ordinance can be found here at the website of the Office of Wage Standards Los Angeles here.
- What kind of rest breaks between shifts are required?
Employers must obtain a covered employee’s written consent before scheduling any shift that starts less than ten (10) hours after the covered employee’s previous shift and, even if the employee consents, the employer must also paythem time and a half for the shift following the insufficient rest period. This is known as a clopening shift.
- What are the consent requirements in the new Fair Workweek law?
Employees are allowed to decline to work any hours, shifts, or work location changes not included in the original posted work schedule. If an employee voluntarily consents to the change, the consent must be in writing and the employer also must pay predictability pay in addition to the employee’s normal wages, unless the change falls under one of exceptions to predictability pay.
- What is predictability pay in Los Angeles?
Unless an exception applies, covered employers must pay predictability pay in addition to the employee’s normal wages, whenever they change the employee’s work schedule. The amount of predictability pay depends on whether the schedule change results in a loss of work time, an addition of work time, or no net change in the amount of hours the employee is scheduled to work.
- What is a good faith estimate of work schedule?
A good faith estimate is just that – an estimate of the days, hours and locations the employee can expect to work. Employers must provide covered employees with a written Good Faith Estimate of their work schedule before hiring (new employees) and within ten (10) days of the covered employee’s request (current employees). If a covered employee's actual work hours substantially deviate from this estimate, the Employer must substantiate this deviation and issue an updated good faith estimate.
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This page only provides a summary. For more details about the specific fair workweek pay rules that Deputy helps solve, visit our help center.