NELP urges just-cause protections and predictable scheduling; implications for Taco Bell

The National Employment Law Project’s January 2023 policy agenda calls for fast-food employers to adopt “just-cause laws that protect workers from being discharged without warning or a good reason,” and to implement predictable scheduling rules aimed at reducing turnover in the sector. The document, titled “2023 Policy & Advocacy Agenda: Bold Solutions to Advance Racial and Economic Justice,” carries the header “NELP | 2023 POLICY & ADVOCACY AGENDA | JANUARY 2023” and frames the push as a response to “Throughout 2022, rising inflation and the erosion of workers’ wages have highlighted the need for solutions to improve job quality and increase families’ economic stability.”

NELP’s agenda links discipline reform to scheduling and leave policy, arguing that paid leave and predictable schedules provide “real flexibility for workers, in contrast with corporate-backed, anti-worker legislation that seeks to redefine worker exploitation as flexibility for” and that federal agencies should do more to hold platforms accountable by “advocating that federal agencies improve the quality of “gig” jobs and increase corporate accountability.” The brief also recommends extending core labor rights to subcontracted workers and strengthening protections for app-based, misclassified, and temporary workers.

The agenda highlights enforcement gaps and places the burden of remedying violations on individual employees. NELP states that “Workers in the United States generally bear the burden of enforcing their own labor protections, worker complaints are virtually the only way that violations are brought to the attention of public agencies or the courts.” The document contains a section labeled “Strengthen Enforcement to Secure Worker Rights orkers” and warns that “When a worker comes forward to report a workplace violation, employers often retaliate or threaten [...]” reflecting NELP’s emphasis on retaliation risk when enforcement depends on worker complaints.

NELP is already active on local campaigns. The agenda says the group is “defending New York City’s precedent-setting fast food worker just-cause law” and is “supporting a new campaign to expand the law to other workers, together with a similar campaign with partners in Illinois.” The organization also reports that “we are leading a national table with partners committed to ensuring all subcontracted workers have access to core labor rights; and engaging with state allies in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Washington to strengthen labor protections for app-based, misclassified, and/or temporary workers.”

The brief does not name individual chains, and it contains no Taco Bell-specific policy language. Still, the recommendations would touch major franchise models that operate in New York City and the eight states NELP lists. NELP frames its 2023 priorities around racial and economic justice and says it is “supporting Black and immigrant workers in building power,” a point that the organization links directly to its campaigns on just-cause protections and scheduling predictability.

If NELP’s campaigns advance beyond defense in New York City and the Illinois effort, the agenda indicates fast-food discipline and scheduling norms could change where the organization is active. The document closes by reiterating NELP’s mission: “Founded in 1969, the National Employment Law Project (NELP) is a leading advocacy organization with the mission to build a just and inclusive economy where all workers have expansive rights and thrive in good jobs.”