Family Friendly Workplace Ordinance Adopted in San Francisco

Last spring, Vermont passed a law that included providing employees with the right to request flexible working arrangements or predictable work schedules. Last week, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to enact a similar law.

Beginning January 1, 2014, employers in the City of San Francisco with 20 or more employees, including part-time employees, must now grant their staff the right to request a flexible work arrangement to accommodate the employee’s caregiving responsibilities. Employees must have worked at least six months and more than eight hours per week to be able to request such an arrangement. The employee’s request must be for taking care of a child; a senior-aged parent; or a spouse, domestic partner, parent, child, sibling, grandparent or grandchild with a serious health condition. The request must be in the form of an alternative work schedule, telecommuting, job sharing, part-time work, or any other type of flexible work arrangement. The request must be made in writing and must lay out in specific detail what is being requested and what accommodations the employee is seeking.

The employer must respond to the request both verbally and in writing and then meet with the employee within 21 days of a request being received. The employer then has 21 days to grant or deny the request in writing, explaining any genuine business-related reasons for the denial. These reasons can include costs associated with losing productivity, rehiring, or retraining; the impact on customer demands; or the inability to have other employees compensate for the additional work demands.

If an employer denies a request for a flexible work arrangement, the employee may submit a written request for reconsideration within 30 days of the denial. An employer who receives a request for reconsideration must meet with the employee within 21 days of the request and respond to it in writing within 21 days of the meeting. If the request is denied again, the employer must provide a business reason for the denial.

San Francisco employers should consider updating their policies and leave request forms to reflect this new requirement.  Employers should also make sure their supervisors and managers are trained to handle requests for flexible or predictable work arrangements.

For more information, view the Legislative Fact Sheet.