Notably, retailers including Macy’s, H&M, Bloomingdale’s, and Modell’s Sporting Goods have unionized workers in New York. And in response, they seem to be dropping like dominoes Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch also recently announced the end of “on-call scheduling.” Williams-Sonoma Inc., Abercrombie & Fitch, Gap, and L. Crew Group, Sears Holdings Corp., TJX Cos, Urban Outfitters Inc. In fact, 13 retail companies - some like L Brands with several brands - received such letters from Schneiderman’s office, including Target, Ann Taylor, Burlington Stores, Crocs Inc., J.C. New York, like seven other states and Washington DC, for example, requires employers to pay workers four hours or more of minimum wage if they report for a scheduled shift, according to the National Employment Law Project. L Brand's move is widely seen as a response to a letter from New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman that the retailer may be in violation of New York laws by using the practice. “If you’re in a lot of jurisdictions it can be complicated to get things right.” Legal notice “This can be especially difficult for multi-state employers,” Gottehrer told Retail Dive.

The practice was a major concern when the San Francisco Board of Supervisors last year unanimously passed its Worker Bill of Rights law. Retailers should be prepared to see more such concerns, warnings, and even legislation as just-in time scheduling gets more scrutiny, says Gail Gottehrer, a labor & employment litigator at Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider in New York who works on behalf of employers.

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