Being scheduled with no notice, having a shift cancelled on arrival, or being sent home after an hour is a common experience in the jobs young people most often hold. The federal answer is unsatisfying: the Fair Labor Standards Act requires payment for hours actually worked and overtime past 40 in a week, but it generally does not require advance notice of a schedule, or payment for a shift that was cancelled. Where stronger rules exist, they come from state and city law.
Predictive scheduling laws, where they exist
A number of cities and a few states have passed what are usually called predictive scheduling or fair workweek laws. These commonly require employers in covered industries — often retail, food service, and hospitality, which is exactly where teenagers work — to give schedules a set number of days in advance, to pay extra when a schedule changes inside that window, and sometimes to offer additional hours to existing part-time staff before hiring someone new.
Coverage is usually limited by industry and employer size, so a large chain may be covered where a small independent business is not, in the same city. The city or state labour standards office is generally the place that publishes what applies.
Reporting-time pay is a separate thing worth knowing
Some states have reporting-time or show-up pay rules requiring an employer to pay a minimum amount when a worker reports for a scheduled shift and is sent home early or finds the shift cancelled. This is separate from predictive scheduling and exists in states that have no fair workweek law at all.
It is one of the more commonly unclaimed protections, because a worker sent home after 30 minutes usually assumes 30 minutes is what they earned. If your state has such a rule, the answer may be different.
For minors, the hours rules are the floor underneath all of this
Whatever a schedule says, federal child-labor law limits when and how long 14- and 15-year-olds may work, including restrictions on hours on a school day, weekly totals during the school year, and the time of evening after which work must stop. Many states set tighter limits still, and where federal and state rules differ, the stricter one generally governs.
So a shift that runs past the permitted evening hour is not made lawful by a manager being short-staffed or by a young person agreeing to stay. Our overview of teenage workers' rights covers the specific hours, and a school-issued work permit sometimes carries the limits printed on it.
Remember this
- Federal law generally doesn't require advance notice of a schedule or payment for a cancelled shift.
- Some cities and states have predictive scheduling laws requiring advance notice and extra pay for late changes.
- Separately, some states have reporting-time pay rules for showing up to a cancelled or shortened shift.
- Child-labor hour limits still apply — agreeing to stay past them doesn't make a shift lawful.
Sources
This article provides general educational information, not individualized legal advice. KidsKnowRights is not a law firm, and reading this article does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws vary by state, age, and circumstances, and they change over time. For advice about a real situation, talk with a licensed attorney or a legal aid organization.