On Monday, New York's attorney general announced that he had sent letters to 13 major retailers inquiring about their use of "on-call scheduling," which can make workers responsible for showing up at a moment's notice, or leave them without a shift just as quickly. "Such practices take a toll on workers and prevent employees from securing childcare or pursuing other job and educational opportunities," according to a post on the attorney general's Facebook page.
For Americans who work traditional nine-to-five jobs, the life of a worker with a constantly-changing shift schedule can be difficult to fathom. Employees can wind up spending time, and money, commuting to their job, only to be told to leave early, or that they're not needed at all that day. A sudden call to work can mean scrambling for child care, or turning down much-needed hours. And a constantly shifting schedule can lead to uneven earnings, with income spiking in some months and plummeting in others, making it incredibly difficult to budget. For students using part-time jobs to make ends meet, schedule changes can mean making a choice between attending class and earning enough money to pay tuition. For workers with kids, it can mean a constant struggle to find and afford child care. The problem is bigger than mere inconvenience.
[For more of this story, written by Gillian B. White, go to http://www.theatlantic.com/bus...rk-schedules/390498/]
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