Big Lots workers face local scheduling laws despite federal flexibility

A last-minute Big Lots schedule change can cost workers hours, disrupt childcare, and, in some cities, trigger extra pay. The key divide is simple: federal law gives employers wide flexibility, but local scheduling rules can add notice requirements and premiums when a shift is canceled, shortened, or changed without enough warning.

The U.S. Department of Labor says the Fair Labor Standards Act does not generally require advance notice before an employer changes an employee’s schedule, except for certain child labor issues. That means a retail employer can usually change hours without prior notice or employee consent unless a contract, policy, or representative arrangement says otherwise. But the same agency also says many states and cities have created their own scheduling laws, and some require predictive scheduling pay or reporting pay when management makes a late change.

That matters at Big Lots because the chain’s schedule can shift quickly with freight, traffic, call-ins, seasonal staffing, and bankruptcy-driven store changes. Big Lots initiated voluntary Chapter 11 proceedings on September 9, 2024, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, initially pursued a sale to Nexus Capital Management LP, and later moved toward going-out-of-business sales at all remaining stores after the deal fell through. Before the final liquidation phase, reporting described the company as operating about 963 U.S. locations and affecting more than 27,000 employees across 48 states.

The first step for workers is to identify the rulebook that applies to the store’s city or state. Seattle’s Secure Scheduling Ordinance took effect on July 1, 2017, and the city says covered retail and food-service employers with 500 or more employees worldwide must provide notice and pay premiums for certain schedule changes. Oregon’s law requires large retail, hospitality, and food-service employers with at least 500 employees worldwide to give written schedules at least 14 calendar days in advance and to pay additional compensation for certain employer-requested changes without that notice. Chicago’s Fair Workweek Ordinance also covers workers in retail and some other industries at certain large employers, while New York City has retail fair-workweek rules that require advance schedule notices and worker consent tools for schedule changes.

The most useful records are often the simplest: a copy of the posted schedule, saved texts about shift changes, screenshots from scheduling apps, and a note of when management first gave notice. Those records help show whether a change happened inside or outside the local notice window, and whether a canceled or shortened shift may trigger premium pay, reporting pay, or a higher overtime calculation. In a company that has already cut deeply through its store base and headquarters, those details can decide whether a late schedule change is just a disruption or a wage issue.