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    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    Seattle passes new scheduling rules to protect hourly workers

    The $15 hourly minimum wage got its start in Seattle. Now the city has taken a new step for part-time, low-wage workers who have to be on call whenever they're needed. In fast food and retail, algorithms determine when business will be hot or cold, and employers set work schedules without advance notice.

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    By Warren Olney • Sep 21, 2016 • 33m Listen

    The $15 hourly minimum wage got its start in Seattle. Now the city has taken a new step for part-time, low-wage workers who have to be on call whenever they're needed. In fast food and retail, algorithms determine when business will be hot or cold, and employers set work schedules without advance notice. What about the workers' needs: plans for childcare, time off for illness -- or additional part-time jobs that allow them to make ends meet. Seattle's new rules include two weeks' advance notice for work schedules and 10 hours' rest between shifts. Do employers accept them? Will they become a failed experiment or a model for the rest of the country?

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

    • KCRW placeholder

      Andrea Brody

      Senior Producer, KCRW's Life Examined and To the Point podcast

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Evan George

      Director of Content, News

    • KCRW placeholder

      Sáša Woodruff

      Producer, 'To the Point'

    • KCRW placeholder

      Kshama Sawant

      Seattle City Council

    • KCRW placeholder

      Darrion Sjoquist

      former barista

    • KCRW placeholder

      Lizzy Simmons

      National Retail Federation

      NewsNationalPolitics
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