Dive Brief:

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Tuesday unanimously approved two bills that together have become known as the “Retail Workers Bill of Rights.” Business groups have generally opposed the measure.

Together the legislation addresses retail employee issues like eliminating erratic work schedules and providing full-time opportunities for part-timer workers. It also stipulates fines for retailers that do not provide protections and opportunities outlined in the bills.

The supervisors must vote twice on the measures before sending them on to Mayor Ed Lee, who hasn’t said whether he supports them. Observers say the legislature could likely override a veto. The second vote is scheduled for Nov. 15.

Dive Insight:

Last month San Francisco voters approved a minimum wage hike to $15, and now its board of supervisors looks poised to grant protections to retail workers. Erratic scheduling, last-minute demands, unpaid on-call time, and other aspects of retail work have come under scrutiny for the havoc they can wreak on workers lives.

“People are really starting to recognize that this issue of not having advance notice of your schedule is a problem, because it means you can’t plan your life, you can’t plan for childcare. Or, if you’re going to school, you can’t plan your classes,” Tsedeye Gebreselassie, a staff attorney for the National Employment Law Project, told Aljazeera America. “If you have to take on a second job … you can’t plan those hours.”