[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6786 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6786
To permit employees to request changes to their work schedules without
fear of retaliation and to ensure that employers consider these
requests, and to require employers to provide more predictable and
stable schedules for employees in certain occupations with evidence of
unpredictable and unstable scheduling practices that negatively affect
employees, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 17, 2025
Ms. DeLauro (for herself, Ms. Adams, Ms. Ansari, Mrs. Beatty, Ms.
Bonamici, Ms. Budzinski, Mr. Carson, Mr. Casar, Ms. Chu, Mr. Cleaver,
Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mr. DeSaulnier, Mr. Deluzio, Mrs. Dingell, Mr.
Doggett, Mr. Evans of Pennsylvania, Mrs. Foushee, Mr. Garcia of
Illinois, Mr. Garcia of California, Mr. Goldman of New York, Ms.
Norton, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Ms.
Lee of Pennsylvania, Mr. Lieu, Mr. Lynch, Mr. Magaziner, Mr. McGovern,
Ms. McClellan, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Norcross, Ms.
Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Omar, Ms. Pingree, Mr. Pocan, Mrs. Ramirez, Ms.
Salinas, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Takano, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms.
Tlaib, Ms. Tokuda, Ms. Underwood, Ms. Wilson of Florida, and Ms. Simon)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Education and Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on House
Administration, Oversight and Government Reform, and the Judiciary, for
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To permit employees to request changes to their work schedules without
fear of retaliation and to ensure that employers consider these
requests, and to require employers to provide more predictable and
stable schedules for employees in certain occupations with evidence of
unpredictable and unstable scheduling practices that negatively affect
employees, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Schedules That
Work Act''.
(b) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) The vast majority of the United States workforce today
is juggling responsibilities at home and at work. In families
with children, 45 percent of mothers are primary breadwinners
and 25 percent are co-breadwinners.
(2) Despite the dual responsibilities of today's workforce,
many workers have little notice of their work schedules and
lack the ability to make changes to the work hours in such
schedules, which undermines their ability to accommodate family
responsibilities.
(3)(A) Mothers working in low-paid jobs are more likely to
be the primary or sole breadwinner for their families than
mothers working in higher-paid jobs. For example, almost 90
percent mothers in the \1/5\ of households in the United States
with the lowest incomes bring home all or most of their
families' income, which is almost 3 times higher when compared
to counterparts in the highest-income quintile.
(B) At the same time, low-paid workers often have the least
control over their work hours and face the most unpredictable
schedules. In some industries, ``just-in-time'' scheduling
practices, which base workers' schedules on perceived consumer
demand to minimize labor costs, are particularly common.
Employers using these practices often post work schedules with
little notice, vary work hours widely from week to week, cancel
shifts at the last minute, and schedule employees for ``on
call'' shifts (requiring an employee to call in to work to find
out whether the employee will have to work later that day) or
``clopening'' shifts (requiring an employee to work a closing
shift at night followed by an opening shift a few hours later).
For example, national survey data show that--
(i) about \2/3\ of hourly retail and food service
workers receive their work schedules with less than 2
weeks' advance notice and about \1/3\ receive their
schedule with less than 1 week's notice;
(ii) more than 1 in 5 hourly retail and food
service workers have been scheduled for on-call shifts,
and more than 1 in 3 have worked ``clopening'' shifts;
and
(iii) 65 percent of hourly retail and food service
workers would like a more stable and predictable
schedule.
(4) Unfair work scheduling practices make it difficult for
low-paid workers to--
(A) provide necessary care for children and other
family members, including securing and maintaining
stable child care;
(B) access and receive needed care for the workers'
own serious health conditions;
(C) pursue workforce training;
(D) get or keep a second job, which many workers
need to make ends meet;
(E) plan for and access transportation to reach
worksites; and
(F) qualify for and maintain eligibility for needed
public benefits and work supports, such as child care
subsidies, Medicaid, and benefits under the
supplemental nutrition assistance program, due to
fluctuations in income and work hours.
(5) A growing body of research demonstrates that unstable
and unpredictable work schedules have significant detrimental
impacts on sleep quality, mental health, and happiness, and are
associated with unstable child care arrangements and negative
health and behavioral outcomes for children. And impacts are
likely to be the most severe for workers of color and their
families, as workers of color are more likely than their White
counterparts--even compared to White coworkers at the same
company--to experience unstable work schedules. Unstable and
unpredictable work schedules are also associated with higher
rates of turnover, which creates further instability for
employers and workers. Some examples of the detrimental impacts
of unstable and unpredictable work schedules are as follows:
(A) Unstable work schedules lead to more household
economic strain and time conflicts and undermine the
well-being of parents, all of which can negatively
impact children's health and behavior.
(B) Workers with the most severe instability in
their work schedules also face the highest risk of
negative behavior and health outcomes for their
children.
(C) The exposure of a parent to on-call shifts and
last-minute shift changes are associated with more
unstable child care arrangements and with the use of
siblings to provide care.
(D) Work schedule instability causes more work-
family conflict, which increases the chance that a
worker will be forced to leave his or her job, and is
associated with downward mobility of the earnings of
the worker.
(E)(i) Relative to White workers, workers of color
are more likely to--
(I) have cancelled shifts;
(II) have on-call shifts;
(III) be involuntary part-time workers;
(IV) have trouble getting time off; and
(V) work ``clopening'' shifts, as described
in paragraph (3)(B).
(ii) The statistics described in clause (i) remain
true after controlling for demographics, human capital,
worker power, firm segregation, and discordance with
the race or ethnicity of the worker and the manager.
Race gaps in job quality are greater for women of
color.
(F) Workers who receive shorter advance notice, who
work on-call shifts, who experience last-minute shift
cancellation and timing changes, or who have more
volatile work hours are more likely to experience
hunger, housing insecurity, and greater overall
economic hardship.
(6) Unpredictable and unstable work schedules are common in
a wide range of occupations, with evidence of particular
concentration in food service, retail, cleaning, hospitality,
and warehouse occupations. These occupations are critically
important to the United States economy.
(7) Since 2015, ten municipalities in the United States and
the State of Oregon have enacted laws requiring employers to
implement fair scheduling practices. Research from 3
municipalities affirms that workers in jobs covered by these
laws report significantly better outcomes than their peers in
uncovered positions, including more predictable schedules and
compensation for employer-driven schedule changes. Survey
research also indicates that covered workers experience
improvements in well-being and financial security.
(8) Scheduling practices that benefit employees can benefit
employers, too. Relative to their peers with lower-quality
schedules, workers with more input, stability, and
predictability in their work hours report greater job
satisfaction and less work family-conflict, which can also
improve productivity and reduce turnover. For example, a
randomized experiment demonstrated that improving schedule
stability and predictability for hourly employees at Gap Inc.
stores increased store productivity and sales.
(9) This Act is a first step in responding to the needs of
workers for a voice in the timing of their work hours and for
more predictable schedules.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Bona fide business reason.--The term ``bona fide
business reason'' means--
(A) the identifiable burden of additional costs to
an employer, including the cost of productivity loss,
retraining or hiring employees, or transferring
employees from one facility to another facility;
(B) a significant detrimental effect on the
employer's ability to meet organizational needs or
customer demand;
(C) a significant inability of the employer,
despite best efforts, to reorganize work among existing
(as of the date of the reorganization) staff;
(D) a significant detrimental effect on business
performance;
(E) insufficiency of work during the periods an
employee proposes to work;
(F) the need to balance competing scheduling
requests when it is not possible to grant all such
requests without a significant detrimental effect on
the employer's ability to meet organizational needs; or
(G) such other reason as may be specified by the
Secretary of Labor (or, as applicable, the
corresponding administrative officer specified in
section 7(e)).
(2) Career-related educational or training program.--The
term ``career-related educational or training program'' means
an educational or training program or program of study offered
by a public, private, or nonprofit career and technical
education school, institution of higher education, or other
entity that provides academic education, career and technical
education, or training (including remedial education or English
as a second language, as appropriate), that is a program that
leads to a recognized postsecondary credential (as identified
under section 122(d) of the Workforce Innovation and
Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3152(d))), and provides career
awareness information. The term includes a program allowable
under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C.
3101 et seq.), the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical
Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.), or the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), without regard
to whether or not the program is funded under the corresponding
Act.
(3) Caregiver.--The term ``caregiver'' means an individual
with the status of being a significant provider of--
(A) ongoing care or education, including
responsibility for securing the ongoing care or
education, of a child; or
(B) ongoing care, including responsibility for
securing the ongoing care, of--
(i) a person with a serious health
condition who is in a family relationship with
the individual; or
(ii) a parent of the individual, who is age
65 or older.
(4) Child.--The term ``child'' means, regardless of age, a
biological, adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a child of a
domestic partner, a legal ward, or a child of a person standing
in loco parentis to that child.
(5) Commerce terms.--The terms ``commerce'' and ``industry
or activity affecting commerce'' have the meanings given the
terms in section 101 of the Family and Medical Leave Act of
1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611).
(6) Covered employer.--
(A) In general.--The term ``covered employer''--
(i) means any person engaged in commerce or
in any industry or activity affecting commerce
who employs 15 or more employees (described in
paragraph (10)(A));
(ii) includes any person who acts, directly
or indirectly, in the interest of such an
employer to any of the employees (described in
paragraph (10)(A)) of such employer;
(iii) includes any successor in interest of
such an employer; and
(iv) includes an agency described in
subparagraph (A)(iii) of section 101(4) of the
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C.
2611(4)), to which subparagraph (B) of such
section shall apply.
(B) Rule.--For purposes of determining the number
of employees who work for a person described in
subparagraph (A)(i), all employees (described in
paragraph (10)(A)) performing work for compensation on
a full-time, part-time, or temporary basis shall be
counted, except that if the number of such employees
who perform work for such a person for compensation
fluctuates, the number may be determined for a calendar
year based upon the average number of such employees
who performed work for the person for compensation
during the preceding calendar year.
(C) Person.--In this paragraph, the term ``person''
has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203).
(7) Covered sector employee.--The term ``covered sector
employee'' means--
(A) a nonexempt employee who is employed in a
hospitality establishment, in a warehouse
establishment, or in any of the following occupations,
as described by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Standard
Occupational Classification System (as in effect on the
day before the date of enactment of this Act)--
(i) retail sales occupations consisting of
occupations described in 41-1010 and 41-2000,
and all subdivisions thereof, of such System,
which includes first-line supervisors of sales
workers, cashiers, gambling change persons and
booth cashiers, counter and rental clerks,
parts salespersons, and retail salespersons;
(ii) food preparation and serving related
occupations as described in 35-0000, and all
subdivisions thereof, of such System, which
includes supervisors of food preparation and
serving workers, cooks and food preparation
workers, food and beverage serving workers, and
other food preparation and serving related
workers; or
(iii) cleaning occupations as described in
37-2011, 37-2012, and 37-2019 of such System,
which includes janitors and cleaners, maids and
housekeeping cleaners, and building cleaning
workers; or
(B) a nonexempt employee who is employed in any
occupation that is designated by the Secretary under
section 9(a)(2)(A) as appropriate for coverage under
section 4.
(8) Domestic partner.--The term ``domestic partner'' means
the individual recognized as being in a relationship with an
employee under any domestic partnership, civil union, or
similar law of the State or political subdivision of a State in
which the employee resides.
(9) Employ.--The term ``employ'' has the meaning given the
term in section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29
U.S.C. 203).
(10) Employee.--The term ``employee'' means an individual
who is--
(A) an employee, as defined in section 3(e) of the
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1