Last Thursday, the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee voted 8-2 to postpone indefinitely HB23-1118, which would have created litigation traps for employers, and created scheduling requirements, fines, and minimum weekly pay for workers in certain industries. Legislators cited the “hundreds” of emails they received, nearly all of them urging a “no” vote. Your business community came together and advocated a a single voice. Hearing testimony from affected businesses and employees also swayed committee members.
More from the Colorado Politics story.
Colorado legislators rejected a bill that would have required retailers and companies in the hospitality industry to provide more predictable scheduling and compensation for “show up time” after sponsors acknowledged they would not compromise on a key change sought by the restaurant industry.
It signaled the first major loss by the House Democrats’ more progressive wing, which has offered legislation already facing veto threats from the governor.
House Bill 1118 died on an 2-8 vote in the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee, with the committee’s chair, vice-chair and two other Democrats voting it down, along with the committee’s four Republicans.
The measure would have required an employer to provide written notice of an employee’s work schedule 14 days in advance. Under the proposal, hours cannot vary by more than 15% without the employee’s written consent, and, if the employee agrees to pick up more hours, that also must be in writing.
Shifts that get canceled at the last minute — such as for inclement weather — would have required the employer to provide “predictability pay” of up to two hours. Also, the employee would get an extra hour of pay for consenting to add a shift at the last minute, unless initiated by the employee.
The bill would also have required at least 12 hours between shifts, unless the employer obtains written consent for less than that. And existing employees must be given first right of refusal for additional hours before the employer can make new hires.
Employees would have the right to request scheduling changes of all kinds. That would address one of the concerns raised by several witnesses in a Feb. 16 hearing — that they were unable to go to their children’s school events, meet with teachers, go to medical appointments or care for aging family members.
The bill went through a seven-hour hearing on Feb. 16, with business owners outnumbering supporters by about 3 to 1. A rewrite to gain the support that the bill needed to get out of the committee was hinted at during the hearing.
But the amendment never surfaced.