Alternative workweek vote: 6 steps from notice to ballot

Key takeaways: the main steps in order

• Draft the proposal as a written agreement from the employer, according to California Department of Industrial Relations, and hold the secret ballot before any work is performed.
• Give a written disclosure of effects on wages, hours and benefits before the vote, and hold a noticed meeting at least 14 days before voting, according to California Department of Industrial Relations.
• Hold the secret ballot during regular working hours at the work site, with ballots mailed to employees not present who were employed within the last 30 calendar days, according to California Department of Industrial Relations.
• Plan any repeal of an alternative workweek schedule as its own event, according to California Department of Industrial Relations.

Why the alternative workweek vote matters for your schedule

A proposed alternative workweek sets new hours for the staff it covers, so the vote decides whether that schedule is adopted. Writing it down first gives you one document to check before any employee sees it.

Your first step is listing the work unit. The rule ties the vote to the affected employees in the work unit, according to California Department of Industrial Relations, so the list should name every affected employee in the work unit whose hours would change and mark anyone on leave. Keeping this list beside the proposal shows who should receive the disclosure and who needs a ballot.

Plan backward from the vote date. The disclosure meeting goes on the calendar before any other staff event that week, and the written notice should say the meeting covers the proposed schedule. The rule quoted here is California's, according to California Department of Industrial Relations, so confirm the work site is in California before you apply these steps.

Step 1: Write the proposal as the employer

Proposal as a written agreement

The California rule states, according to California Department of Industrial Relations, that "each proposal for an alternative workweek schedule shall be in the form of a written agreement proposed by the employer who has control over wages, hours and working conditions of the affected employees." The same sentence requires adoption in a secret ballot election, held before the performance of work. You should therefore draft the proposal as the employer's document before any vote notice goes out.

If a shift lead drafts the document, a manager who controls wages, hours and working conditions should review it before it moves forward. You should keep one version in one file so every later step refers to the same wording.

Your proposal should state the schedule itself: the days, the start and end times, and the hours each affected shift would run. Name the work unit the proposal covers. A second reader who did not draft the proposal should be able to restate the schedule after one read.

Your calendar should show the disclosure meeting, the vote date, and the first scheduled shift in that order.

Steps 2 to 4: Disclosure, meeting and language

Written disclosure of effects

The rule, according to California Department of Industrial Relations, says that prior to the secret ballot vote, any employer who proposes an alternative workweek schedule shall make a disclosure in writing to the affected employees. That disclosure covers the effects of the proposed arrangement on wages, hours and benefits. You should give wages, hours and benefits separate lines so no effect is buried in general description.

Noticed meeting at least 14 days before voting

The rule says the disclosure shall include "meeting(s), duly noticed, held at least fourteen (14) days prior to voting, for the specific purpose of discussing the effects, of the alternative workweek schedule." You should set the meeting date first, so the vote date falls at least 14 days after it. An agenda built from the written disclosure lets you discuss each effect in the order it was written. For the wider notice rules, see work schedule notice rules.

Second-language disclosure

The rule says, according to California Department of Industrial Relations, that an employer shall provide the disclosure in a non-English language, as well as in English, if at least five (5) percent of the affected employees primarily speak that non-English language. Your language count should cover the affected employees in the work unit, and each language should be checked separately. The rule also says, according to California Department of Industrial Relations, that notices shall be mailed to the last known address of all employees in the work unit. You should record the date each notice went out, and keep a list of last known addresses with the work unit roster.

Steps 5 and 6: Ballot, mailed ballots and repeal

Secret ballot at the work site

The rule states, according to California Department of Industrial Relations, that the election shall be held during regular working hours at the employees' work site. Your notice should give the start and end times of the voting window, so every eligible employee sees the same times. A neutral person should hold the ballots until the count is complete.

The rule states, according to California Department of Industrial Relations, that "Ballots shall be mailed to the last known address of all employees in the work unit that are not present at the work site on the day of the election but have been employed by the employer within the last 30 calendar days immediately preceding the day of the election." Your ballot list should come from the roster, so each employee who was absent can be checked against that window.

Two-thirds vote and repeal

Your count should use the whole work unit rather than the people who attend a meeting. The rule also says that any type of alternative workweek schedule authorized by the Labor Code may be repealed by the affected employees.

Plan a repeal window as its own event, separate from the original vote and from the first scheduled shift. You should keep the repeal notice in the same plain terms as the original notice, and file it with the original proposal.

Illustrative example: counting a two-thirds vote

Suppose a work unit has 9 affected employees. Two-thirds of 9 is 6, so 6 yes votes in the secret ballot meet the threshold, and 5 yes votes do not. Measure the vote against the full work unit roster, not against the people who attended the meeting. This example is illustrative only and describes no real employer.

FAQ and what to keep on file

Keep the written agreement as the first document in the file, dated and kept in one place. The proposal, the disclosure and the notices belong in the same folder. A simple index at the front lists each document and its date in the order the steps were taken.

The written disclosure is required in writing, according to California Department of Industrial Relations, so keep a copy exactly as it was given. Where at least five (5) percent of the affected employees primarily speak another language, the non-English version belongs beside the English version. Keeping both side by side shows what each group received.

The file should hold the meeting notice, the date it went out, the date the meeting was held, and a written list of who attended. The rule requires meetings that are duly noticed, according to California Department of Industrial Relations, so the notice itself is part of the record. An attendance list marked with the work unit matches the roster from start to finish.

The rule uses the last known address, according to California Department of Industrial Relations. Your mailing log should record the address used for each mailed ballot, with send dates. You should save the list of employees employed within the last 30 calendar days with that log.

Your count record should show the work site and the regular working hours in which the election was held. Your file should also show the votes counted. Keeping the count record with the mailing log and attendance list gives one complete file for the vote.

Schedule changes outside a vote

Your notes should keep schedule changes apart from the vote record, each with its own date and reason. You should also record who approved each change, so the two sets of entries stay in order. For how approved hours are recorded, see timesheet approval and edit rules.

The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development page on hours of work and overtime states, according to Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, that "Since employers may schedule as they see fit, they may also change employees' schedules during a given week in order to prevent them from working overtime in that week." That sentence describes Wisconsin rules and does not set California vote rules.

The Maine text states, according to Maine Legislature, that "except as otherwise provided in this subchapter, an employer may not employ any employee at a rate less than the rates required by this section." That sentence concerns pay rates under Maine law. It does not state a California pay rate or an overtime amount, so review your pay records against the rules that apply to your site.

Each cited source and its quoted wording appear in the table below.

Your notes should sit beside each quote, so no rule is restated in words the source never used. Each source page should be checked again before you rely on it, because a page can change after its text was copied. The current text should be confirmed with your payroll or legal contact before any step is acted on.

Related guides

• fixing a short paycheck from state wage pages
• notice, claims, and hearing day checks

Your next step today is to set the disclosure meeting date at least 14 days before the vote, according to California Department of Industrial Relations.

FAQ: alternative workweek questions

How many votes does an alternative workweek need?

The rule, according to California Department of Industrial Relations, requires at least a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the affected employees in the work unit. That vote is a secret ballot election held before the performance of work.

How early must the disclosure meeting be held?

The rule, according to California Department of Industrial Relations, requires meetings that are duly noticed and held at least fourteen (14) days prior to voting. The meeting is held for the specific purpose of discussing the effects of the alternative workweek schedule. Keep the agenda on those effects.

Do absent employees get to vote?

Yes: absent employees employed within the last 30 calendar days receive a mailed ballot at their last known address, according to California Department of Industrial Relations. Your ballot list should come from that group.

Can employees repeal an alternative workweek schedule?

The rule says, according to California Department of Industrial Relations, that any type of alternative workweek schedule authorized by the Labor Code may be repealed by the affected employees. Use the same site and working hours in your repeal notice as in the original vote.

Who must receive the non-English disclosure?

Under the rule, according to California Department of Industrial Relations, the disclosure must also be provided in a non-English language, as well as in English, when at least five (5) percent of the affected employees primarily speak that language. Your count should cover the affected employees, since the five (5) percent test refers to them. Your file should keep that count with the notices.