PRINTER'S NO. 565 THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA SENATE BILL No.548 Session of 2025 INTRODUCED BY SAVAL, KEARNEY, FONTANA, HAYWOOD, HUGHES, KIM, TARTAGLIONE, COSTA AND COMITTA, APRIL 4, 2025 REFERRED TO LABOR AND INDUSTRY, APRIL 4, 2025 AN ACT Providing for fair workweek employment standards and for powers and duties of the Department of Labor and Industry; and imposing penalties. The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania hereby enacts as follows: Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as the Fair Workweek Employment Standards Act. Section 2. Definitions. The following words and phrases when used in this act shall have the meanings given to them in this section unless the context clearly indicates otherwise: "Caterer." A person primarily engaged in providing single event-based food services. "Chain." A set of establishments that do business under the same trade name or service mark and that are characterized by standardized options for decor, marketing, packaging, products and services, regardless of the type of ownership of each 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 individual establishment. "Covered employer." A retail establishment, hospitality establishment or food services establishment that, worldwide, employs 250 or more employees and has 20 or more locations regardless of where the employees perform work, including chain establishments or franchises associated with a franchisor or network of franchises that employ more than 250 employees in aggregate. The term includes an individual, partnership, association, corporation or business trust or any person or group of persons, or a successor of such, that employs another person in a retail establishment, hospitality establishment or food services establishment, including a person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of the employer in relation to the employee. "Department." The Department of Labor and Industry of the Commonwealth. "Employee." An individual employed or permitted to work at or for a covered employer within the geographic boundaries of this Commonwealth who is required under Federal or State law to be paid at an overtime rate for hours in excess of a maximum number per workweek, including full-time employees, part-time employees and seasonal and temporary workers and whose job duties involve the provision of retail trade services, food services or hospitality services at or for a covered employer. "Food service contractor." An establishment primarily engaged in providing food services at institutional, governmental, commercial or industrial locations of others based on an contractual arrangement for a specified period of time. "Food services establishment." As follows: (1) An establishment that prepares meals, snacks and 20250SB0548PN0565 - 2 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 beverages to a customer's order for immediate on-premises and off-premises consumption. (2) The term includes: (i) Food service contractors. (ii) Caterers. (iii) Mobile food services. (iv) Restaurants. (3) The term includes hospitality establishments, amusement parks, theaters, casinos, country clubs and civic and social organizations if the food services are provided by a separate establishment primarily engaged in providing food and beverage services. (4) The term does not include dinner cruises. "Hospitality establishment." An establishment primarily engaged in providing short-term lodging in facilities known as hotels, motor hotels, resort hotels and motels which may offer food and beverage services, recreational services, conference rooms, convention services, laundry services, parking and other services for customers. "Mobile food services." An establishment primarily engaged in preparing and serving meals and snacks for immediate consumption from motorized vehicles or nonmotorized carts. "On-call shift." Any time that a covered employer requires an employee to be available to work, or to contact the covered employer or the covered employer's designee or wait to be contacted by the covered employer or designee, to determine whether the employee must report to work at that time. "Posted work schedule." The written work schedule that a covered employer is required to provide to employees under section 3(c) and post under section 3(d). 20250SB0548PN0565 - 3 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 "Retail establishment." The fixed point-of-sale location of a retail business, including: (1) New and used car dealerships. (2) Furniture and home furnishing stores. (3) Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers. (4) Food and beverage stores, including grocery stores, convenience stores, specialty food stores, meat markets, fish and seafood markets, fruit and vegetable markets, baked goods stores, confectionery and nut stores and beer, wine and liquor stores. (5) Health and personal care stores, including pharmacies and drug stores; cosmetics, beauty supplies and perfume stores; optical goods stores; and health supplement stores. (6) Gasoline stations. (7) Clothing stores, clothing accessories stores, shoe stores, jewelry stores, luggage stores and leather goods stores. (8) Sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument and book stores. (9) General merchandise stores, including department stores. (10) Miscellaneous store retailers, including florists, office suppliers, stationery stores, gift stores, novelty and souvenir stores, used merchandise stores, pet stores and art dealers. "Secretary." The Secretary of Labor and Industry of the Commonwealth. "Service mark." As defined in 54 Pa.C.S. § 1102 (relating to 20250SB0548PN0565 - 4 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 definitions). "Shift." The consecutive hours a covered employer requires an employee to work or to be on call to work, provided that breaks totaling two hours or less may not be considered an interruption of consecutive hours. "Successor." A person to whom a covered employer that quits, sells out, exchanges or disposes of a business sells or otherwise conveys in bulk and not in the ordinary course of the covered employer's business, a major part of the property, whether real or personal, tangible or intangible, of the covered employer's business. "Ticketed event." A sporting, entertainment, civic, charitable or other event that requires a ticket for admission. The ticket may be electronic, physical or a name on a list held by the event organizer. "Trade name." As defined in 54 Pa.C.S. § 1102. "Work schedule." All of an employee's shifts and on-call shifts, including specific start and end times for each shift, during a workweek. "Workweek." A period of seven consecutive days beginning on a designated day. "Written communication." Communication by print or electronic means, including e-mail, text messages, use of scheduling applications or other forms of communication that can be saved in an original format. Section 3. Advance notice of work schedules. (a) Good faith estimate.--Upon hiring an employee, a covered employer shall provide the employee with a written, good faith estimate of the employee's work schedule. The covered employer shall revise the good faith estimate when there is a significant 20250SB0548PN0565 - 5 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 change to the employee's work schedule due to changes in the employee's availability or to the covered employer's business needs. The good faith estimate is not a binding contractual offer binding the covered employer. An estimate made without a good faith basis shall be a violation of this section. The good faith estimate shall contain: (1) The average number of work hours the employee can expect to work each week over a typical 90-day period. (2) Whether the employee can expect to work any on-call shifts. (3) A subset of days and a subset of times or shifts that the employee can typically expect to work or days of the week and times or shifts on which the employee will not be scheduled to work. (b) Work schedule requests.--At the time of hire and during employment, an employee has the right to make work schedule requests. A covered employer may grant or deny the request for any reason that is not unlawful. The work schedule requests may include: (1) Requests not to be scheduled for work shifts during certain days or times or at certain locations. (2) Requests not to work on-call shifts. (3) Requests for certain hours, days or locations of work. (4) Requests for more or fewer work hours. (c) Written work schedule.--At the commencement of employment, a covered employer shall provide an employee with a written work schedule that runs through the last date of the currently posted work schedule. Thereafter, a covered employer shall provide advanced written notice of work hours as provided 20250SB0548PN0565 - 6 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 under subsection (d). Nothing under this section shall be construed to prohibit a covered employer from providing greater advanced notice of employees' work schedules and changes in schedules as required by this section. (d) Advanced notice of work schedule.--Written notice of the posted work schedule shall be provided in a conspicuous and accessible location where employee notices are customarily posted. If a covered employer posts the posted work schedule in an electronic format, all employees in the workplace shall have access to the posted work schedule onsite. The posted work schedule shall include the employees' shifts at that work site, whether or not employees are scheduled to work or be on call, and the posted work schedule shall be posted no later than 14 days before the first day of the new schedule beginning January 1, 2026. (e) Changes to work schedule.--If the covered employer requests changes to the written work schedule after the advanced notice required under subsection (d) has been posted, the following shall apply: (1) The covered employer shall provide the employee with timely notice of the change by in-person conversation, telephone call, e-mail, text message or other accessible electronic or written format. (2) The employee may decline to work any shifts not included in the employee's written work schedule. If the employee voluntarily consents to work the hours, the consent shall be recorded by written communication. A written communication of an employee's desire to work shifts made available under section 6 shall constitute written consent. Section 4. Compensation for changed work schedules. 20250SB0548PN0565 - 7 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 (a) Predictability pay.--For each covered employer-initiated change to the posted work schedule that occurs after the posting required under section 3(d), a covered employer shall pay an employee predictability pay at the following rates, in addition to the employee's regular pay for hours actually worked by the employee: (1) One hour at the employee's regular rate of pay when the covered employer adds time to a work shift or changes the date, time or location of a work shift, with no loss of hours. (2) No less than one-half of the employee's regular rate of pay per hour for any scheduled hours the employee does not work for the following reasons: (i) hours are subtracted from a regular or on-call shift; or (ii) a regular or on-call shift is canceled. (3) No less than two-thirds of the employee's regular rate of pay per hour if a regular or on-call shift is canceled or reduced two days or less prior to the start of the shift. (b) Exception.--A covered employer is not required to pay additional compensation under subsection (a) to an employee under this section or obtain written consent under section 3(e) (2) if: (1) An employee requests a shift change by written communication, including voluntary additions or subtractions of hours that are initiated by the employee or the use of sick leave, vacation leave or other leave policies offered by the covered employer. (2) A schedule change is the result of a mutually 20250SB0548PN0565 - 8 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 agreed-upon shift trade or coverage arrangement between employees, subject to any covered employer's policy regarding required conditions for employees to exchange shifts. (3) The covered employer's operations cannot begin or continue due to: (i) threats to the employees or the covered employer's property; (ii) the failure of a public utility or the shutdown of public transportation; (iii) a fire, flood or other natural disaster; (iv) a state of emergency declared by the President of the United States or the Governor; or (v) severe weather conditions that disrupt transportation or pose a threat to employee safety. (4) An employee begins or ends work no more than 20 minutes before or after the scheduled start or end time of the shift. (5) An employee volunteers to work additional hours in response to a mass written communication from the covered employer about the availability of additional hours, provided that the mass communication is only used for additional hours that are the result of another employee being unable to work scheduled hours, and the communication makes clear that accepting the hours is voluntary and the employee has the right to decline the hours. (6) Employee hours are subtracted due to termination of employment or the covered employer subtracts hours from an employee's work schedule for disciplinary reasons under a multiday suspension, provided the employer documents in writing the incident leading to the disciplinary action. 20250SB0548PN0565 - 9 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 (7) A ticketed event is canceled, rescheduled, postponed, delayed, increases in expected attendance by 20% or more or changes in duration due to circumstances that are outside the covered employer's control and that occur after the covered employer provides the posted work schedule required under section 3(d). Additional hours due to a change in a ticketed event's duration that fall within this exemption shall also be fully exempt from section 3(d). Section 5. Right to rest between work shifts. (a) Decline or consent.-- (1) An employee may decline, without penalty, any work hours that are scheduled or otherwise occur: (i) less than 11 hours after the end of the previous day's shift; or (ii) during the 11 hours following the end of a shift that spanned two days. (2) An employee may consent to work shifts under paragraph (1). Consent shall be provided by written communication, either for each shift or for multiple shifts and may be revoked by written communication at any time during employment. (b) Compensation.--A covered employer shall compensate the employee for each instance that the employee works a shift described under subsection (a) in the amount of $40 for each shift. Section 6. Offer of work to existing employees. (a) Requirement to offer work shifts.--Before hiring a new employee from an external applicant pool or a subcontractor, including hiring through the use of temporary services or staffing agencies, a covered employer shall offer work shifts to 20250SB0548PN0565 - 10 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 existing employees as provided under this section. (b) Notice.--The covered employer shall provide written notice of available work shifts for at least 72 hours unless a shorter period is necessary in order for the work to be timely performed and in accordance with the following: (1) The notice shall be in English and in the primary language of the employees at the particular workplace and posted in a conspicuous location at the workplace that is readily accessible and visible to all employees. The notice shall also be provided electronically to each employee if the covered employer customarily communicates scheduling information in an electronic form to employees. (2) The notice shall include a description of the position and its required qualifications, the schedule of available shifts, the length of time the covered employer anticipates requiring coverage of the additional hours and the process by which an employee may notify the covered employer of the employee's desire to work the offered shifts. (3) The covered employer may provide the notice concurrently at the location where the shifts described in the notice will be worked, locations other than the location where the work is to be performed and to external candidates. (c) Existing employees.--A covered employer shall distribute shifts, in accordance with the criteria contained in the notice required under subsection (b)(2), to one or more existing employees who have accepted the shifts and who, to a reasonable covered employer acting in good faith, are qualified to perform the work, provided that: (1) A covered employer shall distribute shifts to employees whose regular workplace is the location where the 20250SB0548PN0565 - 11 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 shifts described in the notice will be worked or, if no employee accepts the shifts within the time as provided under this section and it is a regular practice of the covered employer to schedule employees across multiple locations, to employees whose regular workplace is a covered location other than the location where the shifts will be worked. If it is not a regular practice of the covered employer, offering additional shifts to employees at a different location shall be at the option of the covered employer. (2) The covered employer's system for distribution of hours may not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, age, marital or familial status or on the basis of family caregiving responsibilities or status as a student, and the covered employer may not distribute hours in a manner intended to avoid application of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148, 124 Stat. 119). (d) External applicants.--A covered employer may hire individuals from an external applicant pool or subcontractors to perform the work described in, and in accordance with the criteria provided in, the notice posted under subsection (b)(2) if the covered employer provides notice of available work shifts as required under this section and: (1) no employee accepts the offer of available work shifts within 24 hours of the end of the 72-hour-posting period; (2) the covered employer receives written confirmation from eligible employees that they are not interested in accepting the available work shifts; or 20250SB0548PN0565 - 12 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 (3) existing employees have accepted a subset of the offered work shifts, in which case the existing employees shall be awarded that subset of work shifts, and external applicants may be offered the remaining shifts. (e) Construction.--This section shall not be construed to require a covered employer to offer employees work hours paid at a premium rate under Federal or State law or to prohibit a covered employer from offering the work hours. (f) Notice of policy.--A covered employer shall notify an employee by written communication of the covered employer's policy for offering and distributing work shifts under this section at the time of hire and within 24 hours of any change in the policy and shall post the notice in an accessible location in the workplace. The notice shall include: (1) Where an employee can access written notices of available work shifts. (2) The process by which an employee may notify the covered employer of the employee's desire to work the available work shifts. (3) The criteria for distribution of work shifts among qualified and interested employees. (g) Rules and regulations.--The department shall issue rules and promulgate regulations limiting the applicability of this section with regard to trainees who work for a limited time at a particular location. Section 7. Exercise of rights protected and retaliation prohibited. (a) General prohibition.--It shall be unlawful for a covered employer or any other person to interfere with, restrain or deny the exercise of, or the attempt to exercise, any right under 20250SB0548PN0565 - 13 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 this act. (b) Adverse action prohibited.--No person shall take any adverse action that penalizes an employee for, or is reasonably likely to deter the employee from, exercising or attempting to exercise any right under this act. (c) Applicability.--Protections under this section shall apply to any individual who mistakenly but in good faith alleges violations of this act. (d) Rebuttable presumption.--It shall be considered a rebuttable presumption of retaliation if the covered employer or any other person takes an adverse action against an employee within 90 calendar days of the employee's exercise of rights protected under this section unless due to disciplinary reasons for just cause, provided the covered employer documents in writing the incident relating to the employee's discipline. In the case of seasonal employment that ended before the close of the 90-calendar-day period, the presumption also applies if the covered employer fails to rehire a former employee at the next opportunity for work in the same position. (e) Definition.--As used in this section, the term "adverse action" means the following: (1) Threatening, intimidating, disciplining, discharging, demoting, suspending or harassing an employee. (2) Assigning an employee to a lesser position in terms of job classification, job security or other condition of employment. (3) Reducing the hours or pay of an employee or denying the employee additional hours. (4) Discriminating against the employee, including actions or threats related to perceived immigration status or 20250SB0548PN0565 - 14 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 work authorization. Section 8. Enforcement. (a) Duties of secretary.--The secretary shall have the duty to: (1) Enforce and administer this act. (2) Investigate any alleged violations of this act. (3) Institute prosecutions and actions as provided under this act. (b) Prohibition.--Nothing in this act shall authorize the secretary to initiate a civil action for unpaid wages which are subject to disposition under grievance and arbitration procedures of a collective bargaining agreement. (c) Rules and regulations.--The department may issue rules and promulgate regulations necessary to administer this act. Section 9. Notice. (a) Posting requirement.--Each covered employer shall post and keep posted, in conspicuous and accessible places on the premises of the covered employer where notices to employees and applicants for employment are customarily posted, a notice, to be prepared or approved by the department, providing the rights and privileges provided under this act, stating that retaliation against employees for exercising rights under this act is prohibited and providing other information as the department may require. The notice shall be posted in English and in the primary language of the employees at the particular worksite. (b) Notice of right to report improper suspension.--An employee who receives reduced hours due to a multiday disciplinary suspension under section 4(b)(6) shall be given written notice. If the employee believes the suspension was improperly imposed to manipulate or reduce the employee's 20250SB0548PN0565 - 15 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 schedule in violation of this act, the employee may report the suspension to the department to investigate. Section 10. Covered employer records. (a) Retention.--A covered employer shall keep records necessary to demonstrate compliance with this act, including good faith estimates of work schedules and any modifications, written consent for work shifts as required by this act, offers of work shifts to existing employees and responses to those offers and payroll records that specify the amount of additional compensation paid to employees under sections 4 and 5. Covered employers shall retain the records for a period of two years and shall allow the department access to the records, with appropriate notice and at a mutually agreeable time, to monitor compliance with the requirements of this act. When an issue arises relating to a covered employer's compliance with this act, if the covered employer does not maintain or retain adequate records documenting compliance or does not allow the department reasonable access to the records within 30 days of the department's request, it shall be presumed that the covered employer has violated this act, absent clear and convincing evidence otherwise. (b) Work schedules.--Upon request by an employee, and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the department, a covered employer shall provide the employee with work schedules for all employees at the location in writing for any previous week for the past two years, including the originally posted and modified versions of work schedules. Section 11. Collective bargaining. Any provisions of this act may be waived in a bona fide collective bargaining agreement, but only if the waiver is 20250SB0548PN0565 - 16 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 explicitly provided in the agreement in clear and unmistakable terms and only if the agreement is in effect contractually. Unilateral implementation of terms and conditions of employment by either party to a collective bargaining relationship shall not constitute, or be permitted, as a waiver of any part of this act. Section 12. Enforcement and penalties. (a) Reporting.--An employee or other individual may report to the department any suspected violation of this act. (b) Duties of department.--The department shall take steps as it deems appropriate to resolve complaints and enforce this act, including establishing a system to receive complaints regarding noncompliance with this act and investigating alleged violations in a timely manner. The department may open an investigation on the department's own initiative. (c) Filing complaint.--An individual alleging a violation of this act shall file a complaint with the department within two years of the date the individual knew or should have known of the alleged violation. The identity of a complainant shall remain confidential unless disclosure of the complainant's identity is necessary for resolution of any investigation by the department or otherwise required by law. The department shall, to the extent practicable, notify the complainant that the department will be disclosing the complainant's identity prior to the disclosure. (d) Investigation.--Upon receiving a complaint alleging a violation of this act, the department shall investigate the complaint. The department may designate representatives to inspect worksites and access records required to be maintained under section 10. The department shall keep complainants 20250SB0548PN0565 - 17 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 reasonably notified regarding the status of the complaint and a resulting investigation. (e) Subpoena power.--The department shall have the power to subpoena records and testimony from any party to a complaint. The records shall be provided to the department within 30 days after receipt of the subpoena. (f) Penalties and fines.--The department shall have the power to impose penalties and fines for a violation of this act and to provide or obtain appropriate relief. Remedies may include reinstatement and full restitution to the employee for lost wages and benefits, including predictability pay required under section 4 of this act. A covered employer that violates this act shall be fined: (1) For a violation of section 9: (i) For a first violation, $500. (ii) For a second violation, $1,000. (iii) For a third or subsequent violation, $2,000. (2) For a violation of any other provision of this act: (i) For a first violation, $1,000. (ii) For a second violation, $1,500. (iii) For a third or subsequent violation, $3,000. (g) Civil action.--The department, an individual aggrieved by a violation of this act or an entity, a member of which is aggrieved by a violation of this act, may bring a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction against a covered employer that has violated this act in accordance with the following: (1) If during the pendency of a determination by the department, prior to the issuance of a final decision, an employee brings a private action under this act in a court of competent jurisdiction seeking relief based upon the same 20250SB0548PN0565 - 18 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 facts and allegations as the employee's complaint under this act, or affirmatively or by consent opts to participate in litigation, that employee's complaint to the department shall be deemed withdrawn with respect to any respondent covered employer named as a defendant in a court action. (2) Nothing in this act or its implementing regulations shall be construed to require a complaint to be filed with the department before bringing an action in court or before another governmental agency. (3) Upon prevailing in an action brought under this section, an aggrieved individual shall recover the full amount of unpaid compensation, including predictability pay, to which the individual would have been entitled under this act, any wages and benefits lost, presumed damages under subsection (f) and department regulations, other damages suffered as the result of the covered employer's violation of this act and an equal amount, up to a maximum of $2,000, as liquidated damages. An aggrieved individual shall also be entitled to an award of reasonable attorney fees and costs. (4) Upon prevailing in an action brought under this section, an aggrieved individual shall be entitled to any legal or equitable relief as may be appropriate to remedy the violation, which may not be duplicative of relief provided to the individual in administrative proceedings, including, without limitation, reinstatement in employment, back pay and injunctive relief. (h) Statute of limitations.--The statute of limitations for a civil action brought under this section shall be two years from the date the alleged violation occurred. Section 13. Applicability. 20250SB0548PN0565 - 19 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 This act shall not apply to a covered employer in a city of the first class. Section 14. Effective date. This act shall take effect in 90 days. 20250SB0548PN0565 - 20 - 1 2 3 4