Big national chains like McDonald’s, The Olive Garden and Target are making workers’ lives a constant scramble with unpredictable schedules that don’t offer the stability and flexibility workers need to care for their family, contribute to their communities, and live balanced lives. These companies have sophisticated processes for estimating demand and coordinating supply months in advance of the point of sale — shouldn’t they also be able to give their employees a little heads up on their work schedules?

We support a statewide secure scheduling policy that provides:

Advance notice of schedules so workers can plan their lives.

Workers need at least two weeks’ notice of their schedules so they have the balance and flexibility they need to plan their lives. A quarter of food and retail workers in Washington get less than one week’s notice of their schedules, and almost seven in ten food and retail workers in Washington report their unstable and unpredictable schedules cause stress in their family lives.

Predictability pay for being flexible if things change.

Workers should be able to count on their schedules, so when employers make changes to the posted schedule, the people affected should receive a modest amount of predictability pay for accommodating the changes. This ensures employers make these changes thoughtfully, and is a way to recognize the flexibility employees provide to their employers to meet their needs by juggling childcare arrangements, rearranging plans, missing class, or rescheduling appointments.

Access to hours for those who want them.

More and more employers are requiring 24/7 availability, at the same time as they’re keeping almost everyone below full-time. In order to help ensure everyone has access to the hours they need to pay the rent, current employees should have the opportunity to take on additional hours before additional part-time employees are brought on.

A right to rest which eliminates mandatory clopens.

Everyone should have enough time after leaving work to make it home, take a shower, and get some sleep before they have to come back to work the next day. 38% of food and retail workers worked back-to-back closing and opening shifts in the last month — secure scheduling protects the right to rest that everyone deserves.