The Seattle Office of Labor Standards (OLS) announces its largest settlement under the Secure Scheduling Ordinance since the law took effect on July 1, 2017. The settlement agreement calls for a total financial remedy of $172,619.00 to be paid out to 569 affected employees of Pars Group, LLC and Northwest Food Management Group Inc, which operate nine “Jack in the Box” stores in Seattle.
OLS alleged the employer failed to properly post employee work schedules fourteen days in advance of work shifts; in addition, it allegedly did not pay premium pay for late work schedule changes and for back-to-back closing/opening shifts, known as “clopening” shifts.
“Scheduling is very important to me. It’s difficult to juggle changing shifts. You have to separate your personal time from your work schedule and how are you going to do that with a new schedule every week?” said Edward Richard, former employee.
“Seattle fast food workers were at the forefront of movement for better pay and standards, now they’re at the forefront of enforcing those standards, too. By standing together and working with the Office of Labor Standards, these workers held their employers accountable to the high road standards we’ve set as a city,” said Rachel Lauter, Executive Director of Working Washington & Fair Work Center. “We thank OLS for their commitment to enforcing Seattle’s labor and employment laws, and their leadership in ensuring workers have predictable, flexible, and secure schedules — something we hope all workers in Washington will soon benefit from.”
The Secure Scheduling law applies to retail and food services establishments with more than 500 employees worldwide, and full-service restaurants with more than 500 employees and more than 40 full-service restaurant locations worldwide.
