What
On Nov. 21, the Berkeley City Council approved a new fair workweek ordinance. Sponsored by labor, the ordinance requires Berkeley employers to adhere to certain scheduling and notification requirements for shifts, provide predictability pay to all employees, and offer work to existing employees first. Unlike other fair workweek ordinances in the Bay Area, Berkeley’s ordinance includes hospitals and outpatient medical clinics.
Hospital Council advocated for amendments to the ordinance and was successful in obtaining the following changes:
- Moved the effective date to one year from passage, giving health care employers time to come into compliance
- Honors current collective bargaining agreements but requires that when such agreements expire, parties must explicitly waive Berkeley’s ordinance in their next bargaining agreement
- Adds pandemic to the list of operational exceptions
The city of Berkeley is set to move forward to promulgate regulations to implement the ordinance. Rebecca Rozen will be working with impacted hospitals and health systems to provide comments.