Chicago’s New Fair Workweek Rules Are Now in Effect: What Employers Need to Know

By K. Hope Harriman, Michael A. Warner, Jr. and R. Jason Patterson - Franczek P.C.

August 20, 2026

On June 1, 2026, Chicago’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (“BACP”) began enforcing a new, detailed set of rules implementing the Chicago Fair Workweek Ordinance. These rules explain — and in some places tighten — the scheduling, notice, and pay obligations of the Fair Workweek Ordinance. The Department is actively auditing for compliance. Employers who have not revisited their scheduling practices, notices, and recordkeeping since the rules took effect should do so now.

A Quick Refresher on the Ordinance

The Fair Workweek Ordinance (the “Ordinance”) requires covered employers in specified industries — including building services, health care, hotels, manufacturing, restaurants, retail, and warehouse services — to provide “Covered Employees” (employees in qualifying industry working in Chicago who meets specified hours and income thresholds) with 14 days’ advance notice of their schedules; additional “predictability pay” equivalent to up to one hour of the employee’s pay for last-minute scheduling changes; and “good faith estimates” of what the employer projects the employee’s schedule will be for the first 90 days of their employment. The June 1, 2026, rules do not rewrite these core obligations; instead, they clarify how the rules will be enforced.

Key Clarifications and Changes

>  Employer and employee size calculations. The Ordinance only covers private corporations of 100 or more employees and not-for-profits with 200 or more employees. The new rules clarify that employer size will be calculated using a rolling 12-month average of employees (or a 90-day average for new employers) and will use the same methodology to count Covered Employees. Fractional results are rounded down.

>  Good-faith estimates at hire. The new rules clarify the scope of information new employees must receive in their good faith estimates upon hire. Under the new rules, good faith estimates must include estimated weekly hours, expected days and shift times, work location(s), and whether on-call shifts should be expected. The rules include examples distinguishing compliant estimates (specific shift windows) from noncompliant ones (a range so broad — such as “any hours, Monday through Sunday”).

>  Advance schedule notice. The new rules clarify that employee schedules, which need to be published 14 days in advance per the Ordinance, must be time-stamped with the date and time of posting and must identify the workweek’s dates, all scheduled shifts and locations (including on-call shifts), and the names of every covered employee at that location — not just those scheduled that week. Names must include at least a first initial and full last name.

>  Predictability pay. The new rules add several key clarifications to predictability pay requirements:

     >  Ongoing consent to schedule changes is insufficient – new, written agreement must be obtained for each applicable schedule change.
     >  The new rules are explicit that employers are not required to pay Predictability Pay for adding or subtracting hours when those changes are voluntarily initiated by the Covered Employee and reduced to writing, including a Covered Employee’s use of Paid Leave, Paid Sick Leave, paid time off, vacation, or other leave policies offered by the Employer; or a mutually agreed-upon shift trade or coverage agreement between Covered Employees.
     >  When calculating the regular rate of pay for Predictability Pay, the regular rate does not include overtime, holiday pay, or other premium rates.
     >  Predictability Pay is not counted as an hour of work for the purposes of Paid Leave or Paid Sick Leave.

>  Offering additional hours. The Ordinance requires that Employers must offer additional shifts to Covered Employees, and thereafter to temporary or seasonal workers who have worked for the employer for two or more weeks. The new rules clarify that if the employer regularly schedules employees across multiple locations, it must offer additional hours to the Covered Employees at all locations before the offer may be made to temporary or seasonal workers. The new rules also require written notice of the offer of additional shifts to Covered Employees, including the shift’s location; start and end time; whether the shift is temporary or recurring; and how the Covered Employees may notify the employer about selecting the shift.

>  Right to rest. Employees may voluntarily agree, in writing, to work a shift beginning less than 10 hours after their prior shift ends but must still be paid 1.25 times their regular rate for that shift — including for double- and split-shifts that fall within the 10-hour window, with detailed examples showing exactly how partial split-shift pay is calculated.

The Bottom Line

These rules create a much more granular compliance checklist than the Ordinance’s text alone. Employers should review their pay and scheduling practices against these rules now to reduce audit exposure and potential liability.

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