This post was written by Candace Chewning, Outreach and Communications Director for the Office of Benefits and Wage Compliance.
Starting April 1, 2020, the Fair Workweek law requires covered employers to provide service, retail, and hospitality workers with a predictable work schedule and other protections. Learn more about the law and its regulations process.
Franchise and chain businesses are included.
Covered employers include those with 250 or more employees worldwide and 30 or more locations worldwide. In addition, the law includes franchises and chains as covered employers. When the franchisor meets the stated employee and location requirements, both franchisee and franchisor are considered co-employers under the Fair Workweek law.
Co-employment: Temporary or staffing agencies can share responsibility with covered employers.
The law describes that there can be a “co-employment” when more than one entity is the “employer” if employment by one employer is not completely disassociated from the other. Regulations provide further guidance on the factors that will be considered when determining co-employment status.
More than one entity may be the “employer” of the employee if any of the following conditions are met:
- The employee’s work simultaneously benefits more than one employer, or they work for two or more employers at different times during a workweek.
- One employer acts directly or indirectly in the interest of the other employer(s) in relation to the employee.
- Control over an employee’s work is shared either directly or indirectly by more than one employer.
- Temporary or staffing employees work at the location of a covered employer at least 16 hours over a two-week period.
If at least one of the above factors is true, an employee is considered co-employed by two or more employers, and all employers share responsibility—both individually and jointly—for compliance with all of the provisions of the Fair Workweek law. This includes, but is not limited to: presumed damages for predictable scheduling requirements, predictability pay, and other protections, fines, and penalties.
The Mayor’s Office of Labor recommends employers who fall under co-employment come to an agreement on liability for employees who work at a covered location.
Philadelphia’s Fair Workweek law is complex and requires employers to adjust their practices. Employers can start taking steps now to bring their business into compliance before Fair Workweek’s effect date—April 1, 2020.
The Mayor’s Office of Labor is hosting a training on March 24, 2020 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Northeast Regional Library, 2228 Cottman Avenue. Franchise owners are encouraged to attend and ask questions.
Employers can request compliance assistance or ask questions, and employees can find out if they are covered or request training by contacting the Office of Benefits and Wage Compliance at 215-686-0802 or fairworkweek@phila.gov.
