Q: My daughter got a job with a national chain and -based on the ad and the interview- she expected to work a schedule averaging 20 hours a week. What’s happening instead is that she has no fixed schedule, she’s mostly asked to work flexible shifts where she has to call one hour before start-time to see if they even need her. Half the time they don’t. Now she’s hesitant to enroll in school because she may miss out on work hours that they may not offer. How is she going to get ahead, how is this fair?
A: It’s not fair. But, unfairness is not illegal. And if it means higher profits, having to inconvenience employees is just part of business. Black Friday 2am store openings, would be another example.
What your daughter is experiencing is the result of scheduling software with sophisticated algorithms used by big retailers and restaurant chains in order to determine exactly how much staff they’ll need on a given day depending on sales trends/predictions or even the type of weather. This is the picture of efficiency.
Unfortunately for the worker, this practice requires “on-call shifts” which means workers –like your daughter- have to be on stand-by, without pay.
This practice is the labor equivalent of “Just in Time Inventory”, in which “materials and products are produced/acquired only as demand requires”. Except that with labor, these materials and products are humans and producing/acquiring them involves them standing by, waiting to see if they’ll be “on demand” or not.
The practice is legal, but perhaps not for long.
That’s because the general public has become critical of this practice recently, and some states have started questioning whether it violates similar laws requiring employees to be paid for showing up even if they’re sent home.
Perhaps as a result of public opinion, publicity (like the New York Times’ story about a single mom working at Starbucks), pressure from some states, and other proposed legislation, something very hopeful is happening. The Gap, Abercrombie, Urban Outfitters and others are voluntarily stopping the practice. If your daughter is interested in a job that allows her to attend school, encourage her to find an employer that offers a steady schedule. Many smaller businesses out there -without the big brand name- already do.
