October 21, 2025
Last-minute scheduling changes can upend workers’ lives, forcing them to scramble for child care or lose wages. In response, a growing number of cities and states have adopted “fair workweek” laws, which require employers to give workers advance notice of schedules and compensate them for last-minute changes. New research shows that New York City’s law did not hurt employment.
New York City case study
The Upjohn Institute’s Aaron Sojourner and Joseph Pickens of the U.S. Naval Academy studied New York City’s Fair Workweek Law, which took effect in 2017 for fast-food chain restaurants. The law requires employers to post schedules at least two weeks in advance. If a manager cancels or adds hours within that window, the employee is entitled to a premium payment of $10 to $75. Employers must also offer extra hours to existing staff before hiring new workers, and they cannot schedule “clopening” shifts -- where employees close one night and open the next morning -- unless the worker agrees and receives a $100 bonus.
Critics warned the law would hurt businesses by raising costs and reducing flexibility. Supporters countered that workers deserve stability. The study found the law had no measurable impact on employment levels in New York City’s fast-food sector. Using publicly available data, researchers compared job trends in city fast-food restaurants with those in nearby counties and other city industries. They found no evidence of employment reduction.
Why it matters
Unpredictable scheduling is common in the U.S. labor market. Roughly one in four workers know their schedules less than two weeks in advance, another one in four see hours fluctuate week to week, and about four in 10 have little control over their schedules. Research shows unstable schedules increase stress, disrupt family life, and may harm children’s development.
The New York City case shows that fair workweek laws may give workers more predictable schedules without reducing employment. Penalties for cutting shifts encourage employers to schedule fewer workers, while penalties for adding shifts push them to schedule more. These incentives offset each other, leaving overall employment unchanged while giving workers greater certainty and compensation.
Policy implications
“Using publicly available data, we found that New York City’s fair workweek law for fast-food workers had no effect on employment levels in the fast-food sector,” the authors write. That outcome suggests that, when designed carefully, such laws could improve job quality without undermining job growth.
New York City’s law has influenced legislation in Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, and Oregon. More research is needed to see how variations in these laws affect other labor markets, but so far the evidence suggests that businesses can adapt—and workers and families gain stability.
Experts
