The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the issues working families have been facing for decades— unpredictable work schedules, fluctuating paychecks, and underemployment. These families struggle to meet basic expenses and to plan for childcare, meals, and medical appointments. Most notably, this pandemic has hurt working women and mothers, who are being forced out of the workplace at alarming rates, especially Black and Latinx women and mothers.

This is why Massachusetts Jobs with Justice, in partnership with Representatives Maria Duaime Robinson and Sean Garballey, and Senator Marc Pacheco, has filed An Act Relative to the Scheduling of Employees (HD1546/SD412), also known as The Fair Work Week Bill!

The Fair Work Week Bill aims to give workers more control over their schedules, and their lives by giving employees who work in the restaurant, retail, and hospitality industries for a company with more than 50 employees worldwide the right to:

• 14 days advance notice of hours

• Rest for 11 hours between shifts

• Request specific shifts without retaliation from their employer

• Deny on-call shifts without retaliation from their employer

• Be offered new shifts before new employees are hired to fill those shifts

• Apply for unemployment benefits if a worker quits their job because of their employer’s failure to comply with the bill

All workers deserve the chance to build stable lives for themselves and their families, but for many, erratic work schedules make stability almost impossible. Join Mass JwJ in calling on your legislators to protect working class families this session by co-sponsoring the Fair Work Week Bill!