Chicago Amends Fair Workweek Rules: Covered Employers Face Expanded Scheduling, Pay, and Recordkeeping Obligations, by Paul Daugherity, Esq., 6-16-2026

Chicago employers subject to the Fair Workweek Ordinance should take note of significant amendments to the City’s Fair Workweek Rules that took effect on June 1, 2026. The revised rules add detail to the Ordinance’s scheduling, predictability pay, access-to-hours, right-to-rest, and recordkeeping requirements, and will require covered employers to update policies, forms, payroll practices, and record retention procedures.

Expanded Scheduling Requirements

The amended rules confirm that covered employers must continue to provide work schedules at least 14 days in advance. They also require each posted schedule to be time-stamped with the date and time of posting, and to identify the week covered, the hours, days, times, and locations covered employees are scheduled to work, including on-call shifts, as well as the names of all covered employees who work at the location, regardless of whether they are scheduled to work that week.

The revised rules also add detail to the good-faith estimate requirement for newly hired covered employees. In addition to the anticipated days and hours of work, the estimate must include the date it was provided and whether the employee should expect to work any on-call shifts.

Predictability Pay Updates

The amended rules clarify when predictability pay is required and how it must be documented. Predictability pay generally is not required for schedule changes initiated by or requested by the covered employee, including requests for paid leave, paid sick leave, vacation, or other employer-provided leave, or for mutually agreed shift trades or coverage arrangements, so long as the request or agreement is documented in writing.

The rules also state that predictability pay must be separately identified on a wage statement or other written payroll documentation and paid no later than the next payday. They further clarify that predictability pay is not treated as an hour of work, does not affect paid leave accruals, and is not included in overtime calculations.

Access To Hours

The revised rules provide additional guidance on the Ordinance’s access-to-hours requirements. Covered employers must still offer additional hours to existing qualified employees before turning to other staffing options, and the new rules require written notice of those opportunities.

The notices must include information such as the location, start and end times, whether the shift is temporary or recurring, the date or dates for which coverage is needed, the qualifications required, any training that will be provided, and the deadline and method for accepting the shift. Predictability pay is not required for shifts accepted through the access-to-hours process.

Right To Rest

Chicago’s Fair Workweek Ordinance continues to require covered employees to have at least 10 hours of rest between shifts unless they voluntarily consent to a shorter break. The amended rules clarify that this consent may be situational or ongoing, and that the employee may revoke the consent at any time.

Where a covered employee works a shift that begins fewer than 10 hours after the end of the prior day’s shift, the employee is entitled to premium pay of at least 1.25 times the employee’s regular rate of pay, regardless of whether the employee requested or consented to the schedule. Such premium pay must be separately identified and paid no later than the employee’s next payday.

Expanded Recordkeeping

The amended rules significantly expand the categories of records covered employers must maintain. Covered employers must retain records showing initial schedule estimates, posted schedules, employee consent to schedule changes, access-to-hours records, right-to-rest consent documentation, and flexible work arrangement requests and responses.

The rules also require employers to maintain relevant handbook, policy, and manual materials, as well as records showing whether a covered employee receives tips or performs both tipped and non-tipped duties. Employers should ensure these records are accessible and retained in a manner that supports prompt production if requested by the City.

Employer Takeaways

Covered employers should review scheduling, payroll, and documentation practices now that the revised rules are in effect. In particular, employers should consider updating schedule-posting procedures, revising forms for written employee consents, confirming wage statement itemization for premium pay, and training managers and schedulers on the new requirements.

Employers should also review record retention practices to ensure that the expanded categories of documents are preserved consistently. Because the amended rules add operational detail across several parts of the Ordinance, employers that do not update their practices may face increased compliance risk.

Author: Paul Daugherity is a Partner in Kaufman Dolowich’s Chicago office.