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Rules Committee adopts amendments to family-friendly flex-time ordinance, continues item to July 23
Summary
The Rules Committee adopted four technical and substantive amendments to a proposed Family Friendly (flexible/predictable schedule) ordinance — including health-and-safety exceptions and an OLSE warning period — and continued the item to a special meeting on July 23 for further consideration.
The Rules Committee on July 18 voted to adopt four amendments to a proposed Family Friendly ordinance that would give San Francisco employees a right to request flexible or predictable work arrangements. The committee then continued the item to a special meeting on July 23 so that sponsors can finalize language after the changes.
President (sponsor) Chu told the committee the ordinance would allow workers to request schedule changes such as shift swaps, part-time work, telecommuting or job sharing while preserving an employer’s right to deny requests for bona fide business reasons. He said the measure includes an enforcement mechanism by the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE) and allows waivers in collective bargaining agreements. "The right to request is balanced by an employer's right to deny for good faith, bona fide business reasons," the sponsor said.
Following public comment from a broad coalition — including health professionals, labor unions, disability advocates, parents, and business representatives — the committee accepted several sponsor-led amendments: adding a findings section to explain policy rationale; allowing health-and-safety exceptions for public- and private-sector employees in emergency clinical or public-safety roles (to be defined by city agencies); permitting OLSE to issue a warning rather than a fine during the first 12 months; and reducing employer recordkeeping from four to three years.
Speakers in support stressed public-health and family benefits: one physician stated the ordinance "can potentially affect the 9,000 women who give birth in San Francisco each year," and union leaders and nonprofit advocates said flexibility improves retention and child and maternal health. Hospital representatives asked for clear operational exceptions for emergency and clinical staffing, which the sponsor said the amendments aim to address.
After debate over whether to place the measure on the November ballot or pass it legislatively, the committee voted to adopt the four amendments "without objection" and to continue the item to a special Rules Committee meeting on July 23 at 10 a.m. for further action. The sponsor and staff will finalize technical cleanups identified by the city attorney before the next hearing.
