In 2014, San Francisco passed the first local ordinance designed to give workers advance notice of their work schedules. In the decade since that law went into effect, jurisdictions across the country have enacted “fair workweek laws” to provide hourly workers with control over their work hours, predictability in when they will work, and stability in their weekly hours and wages. From some of the nation’s largest urban centers like New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia, to small cities like Evanston, IL and Emeryville, CA, municipal governments are making progress toward improving this key metric of job quality.

In June 2025, the National Women’s Law Center hosted a convening of local labor officials, attorneys, and researchers to share their experiences with the implementation and enforcement of fair workweek laws. Over two days, the group discussed the comparative strengths of different policy designs, innovative ways to streamline data collection for enforcement, and what the next generation of fair workweek laws can and should be. Among the findings, three key takeaways rose to the top:

1. Too many workers are still subjected to volatile and abusive scheduling practices—and are suffering the economic and health consequences.
2. With the right education and enforcement, fair workweek laws can have the desired effect of creating more predictable schedules for working people.
3. Changes to the way these laws are drafted can help streamline enforcement, facilitate public and employer education efforts, and increase their overall efficacy.

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