Starbucks Pays $39 Million to NYC in Landmark Settlement – Can Something Similar Brew Up in California?
The New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (“DCWP”) recently announced a historic $38.9 million settlement with Starbucks for violating New York City’s Fair Workweek Law, marking the largest worker protection settlement in the city’s history.
The DCWP’s 2021 investigation into Starbucks found that the popular chain “committed more than half a million violations of the [Fair Workweek Law]” . Employees rarely received regular schedules, had hours illegally reduced, and were often denied the opportunity to pick up additional shifts. If you’ve ever worked before in retail or food service, these practices may sound familiar.
Unpredictable scheduling, sudden changes without notice, and reduction of hours without explanation are some of the most frustrating aspects of these jobs, and play a key role in limiting worker mobility and growth. How can a worker plan out their week knowing they can be called in at any point? How does a worker set time aside for important activities like furthering their education or caring for family when an employer has no legal reason to respect those hours? How can you save and plan for expenses when your expected pay radically differs from week to week?
New York City’s Fair Workweek Law gives retail and food service workers a better chance at stability by preventing these violations. This historic settlement with a company that has such strong footing in NYC is a significant win for enforcing workers’ rights, but while this sounds great for New Yorkers, does a Californian share the same benefits?
Only a handful of cities like Berkeley,1 Emeryville,2 Los Angeles,3 San Francisco,4 and San Jose5 have a variant of a Fair Workweek law in place. All were enacted recently, with the latest being Los Angeles County’s Fair Work Week Ordinance (“FWWO”), which only went into effect July 1, 2025.6
For now, Starbucks and other food service businesses can breathe easy as the new FWWO only applies to retail employers who employ more than 300 workers globally.7 Another point of difference is that New York City’s has strict limitations against “on-call shifts,” where employees must be ready to work whenever the employer calls upon them,8 while in California employers are only required to provide pay for time spent on-call. However, although LA County’s FWWO is more limited in scope, its retail employees do have unique benefits.
For example, retail employers must provide written schedules 14 days in advance,9 as opposed to just 72 hours in New York City.10 Workers are not responsible for finding coverage for missing shift or partial shift,11 and can request schedule changes that employers can only decline in writing.12 Further, LA County outlines “Predictability Pay” in its ordinance, in which the employer must pay an affected employee anywhere from half of their regular rate of pay to one additional hour of pay depending on how the employer changes the date, time or location of an employee’s scheduled shift.13 In contrast, New York City’s penalty system for employer violations is vaguer, and paid to the DCWP rather than to the affected employee.
No matter where enacted, all Fair Workweek Laws aim to enforce more consistent schedules in industries where the concept has historically been an afterthought. With how recently many Fair Workweek laws were enacted, many California workers are likely unaware of their full rights regarding predictive schedules. If you’d like to read more on all regulations and protections, here is a helpful resource provided by the city.
We represent wage earners in Los Angeles County and throughout California in class action lawsuits against employers for such violations like late schedule sharing and untimely schedule changes. Please fill out our contact form or call us if you have any questions, or use the following links to resources to file a complaint with your city’s respective agency.
References:
[1] Berkeley Municipal Code ch. 13.102 (Fair Workweek Employment Standards).
[2] Emeryville Municipal Code tit. 5, ch. 39 (Fair Workweek Employment Standards).
[3] Los Angeles County Code ch. 8.102 (Fair Workweek Employment Standards).
[4] San Francisco Labor and Employment Code art. 42 (Predictable Scheduling and Fair Treatment for Formula Retail Employees).
[5] San Jose Municipal Code ch. 4.101 (Opportunity to Work Ordinance).
[6] Fair Workweek Ordinance for Employers, Los Angeles County Department of Consumer & Business Affairs, https://dcba.lacounty.gov/fairworkweek/ (last visited Dec. 15, 2025).
[7] Los Angeles County Code § 8.102.030(O)(3).
[8] N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 20-1251(a)(1).
[9] Los Angeles County Code § 8.102.060(A).
[10] N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 20-1251(a)(3).
[11] Los Angeles County Code § 8.102.090.
[12] Los Angeles County Code § 8.102.050.
[13] Los Angeles County Code § 8.102.080.