Trader Joe’s to pay $44k for alleged violations of Seattle worker scheduling law

Trader Joe’s will pay more than $44,000 after allegations that the company violated Seattle’s scheduling law for hourly employees. 

According to the Seattle Office of Labor Standards, the grocery store chain faced allegations of failing to post employees’ work schedules with two weeks’ notice, as required by the law, between May and October last year. 

The $44,528 settlement will be paid to 129 employees to resolve the case, the office said, calling the agreement “an informal resolution” that followed an OLS “inquiry.” The company will also receive labor standards training and distribute a scheduling policy to employees, the city said. 

The secure scheduling law, passed by the City Council in 2016, requires large retail and food service companies to post work schedules for hourly employees at least 14 days in advance and to pay employees extra when the company changes their schedule after it’s posted, among other rules.   

Trader Joe’s did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The city did not specify where, of the company’s five stores in Seattle, the scheduling violations allegedly occurred.