Big, First Vote Tomorrow on Harmful-to-the-Economy Legislation

February 15, 2023 Last Edit: June 5, 2025

Big, First Vote Tomorrow on Harmful-to-the-Economy Legislation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Tony Gagliardi, Colorado State Director, tony.gagliardi@nfib.org, or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, anthony.malandra@nfib.org DENVER, Feb. 15, 2023—The eyes of thousands of small businesses in Colorado will be trained on the House Business Affairs & Labor Committee of the Legislature when it takes up HB-23-1118 for its first vote, tomorrow, February 16, at 1:30 in Room 0112 of the State Capitol. “The issue may be under the radar to the general public, but it is a clear and present danger to thousands of Colorado small business, especially those in the restaurant and hospitality industries,” said Tony Gagliardi, Colorado state director for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), in reference to House Bill 1118, which would require businesses to post their employees schedules two weeks in advance and pay a penalty for changing it. “It goes by different names: advance scheduling, predictive scheduling, restrictive scheduling, and the oh-so-sweet sounding Fair Workweek Employment Standards that HB 1118 is labeled,” said Gagliardi. “But only pernicious results come from it. Restaurants especially need the flexibility to adjust workers’ schedules, for reasons that include – let me be emphatic about this – the flexibility workers themselves ask for. Throw in the need to make changes to account for road closures, weather, natural disasters, large-party reservations and, often, large-party cancellations, and it’s easy to see how handicapping to the economy HB 1118 is.” Oregon is the only state with such a law, but that law prohibits local governments from establishing their own predictive scheduling ordinances. California has no statewide law, but local governments are allowed to have their own predictive scheduling ordinances, which San Francisco, in 2014, became the first in the nation to have. Most states and cities have wisely begged off copying. Additional Information New Evidence Suggests “Fair Workweek” Laws Aren’t Helping Workers “By penalizing employers for schedule changes, these laws increase the cost of necessary changes that reflect fluctuations in demand out of the control of employers. For industries that operate and staff businesses based on foot traffic, things like sudden weather changes or big sporting events may heavily influence demand in retail or restaurant businesses at the drop of a hat. Instead, predictive scheduling laws forbid employers from making staffing and shift changes up to two weeks in advance of an employee’s scheduled shift. Penalties for violating these time constraints means employers could err on the side of scheduling fewer employees, for fear of having to adjust schedules later due to unforeseen circumstances and pay fines.” Keep up with the latest Colorado small-business news at www.nfib.com/colorado or by following NFIB on Twitter @NFIB_CO or on Facebook @NFIB.CO ### For nearly 80 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven association. Since its founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com. NFIB Colorado 1700 Lincoln Street, 17th Floor Denver, CO 80203 303-860-1778 www.nfib.com/colorado Twitter: @NFIB_CO Facebook: NFIB.CO