Will Fair Workweek Laws Drive Automation?

The Fair Workweek movement is gaining momentum across the country as advocates press – and workers demand – predictability in their weekly work hours. San Francisco, New York and Seattle are among the major American cities to pass predictive scheduling legislation, and the first statewide law will go into effect in Oregon in 2018. These laws are designed to address concerns of employees at the lower rungs of the pay ladder from last-minute shift changes that can contribute to financial instability and make it difficult to arrange for child care or schedule activities like school and additional work. And they primarily target the service industry -- retail, food service and hospitality organizations. This poses a challenge to employers in the service industry, which is uniquely sensitive to last-minute fluctuations in demand that can affect profitability. A fully staffed dinner shift that is slower than anticipated means unnecessary labor costs, for instance, while understaffing a…