Controversy over newly proposed Fair Work Week Bill in the state legislature

DENVER, Colo. (KRDO) -- A newly proposed bill currently moving through the state legislature could give restaurant and retail workers better control of their work schedules.

The bill, introduced in January by a group of Democratic state lawmakers, is known as the 'Fair Workweek Employment Standards Proposal.'

The bill would require restaurant and retail companies in Colorado with 250 or more workers to provide schedules 14 days in advance and give 12 hours of rest in between shifts.

It would also require additional pay for late schedule changes, and requires clear record-keeping for shift requests and shift changes.

Colorado would join Oregon as the second state with a scheduling law like this one that applies to retail, food and beverage establishments, and manufacturing companies.

KRDO's Denver news partners spoke with Abby Vestecka who has been working in retail for more than 10 years. They say Abby would get their schedule a day and a half in advance, allowing no time to secure a doctor's appointment.

"It makes it difficult if you have to schedule any sort of doctor's appointments because you have to wait until essentially week of to get those scheduled because you don't know when you're going to be working," Vestecka.

Some businesses claim it'll have the opposite effect and raise costs to keep their services running.

Our news partners in Denver also spoke with Ted's Montana Grill Director of Operations Kristie Mansur, who says this bill would take away schedule flexibility for workers.

"Whether it be someone who only can work two days a week because they're caring for a family member and so they want to work as much as possible during those two days," Mansur said. "The bill would make it very difficult for us to allow that flexibility because we would have to pay time and a half for that second shift."

According to the Colorado Restaurant Association, if the bill passes it would cost restaurants an average of $70,000 per year, per location.

On Feb. 16, there was a seven-hour hearing with testimonies from both sides of the bill.

But for now, the bill has been laid over without a vote. But will be eventually taken back up again in the House.