S3550 U.S. Senate: Schedules That Work Act

S3550 U.S. Senate: Schedules That Work Act

(1) The vast majority of the United States workforce today is juggling responsibilities at home and at work. In families with children, 45 percent of mothers are primary breadwinners and 25 percent are co-breadwinners.
(2) Despite the dual responsibilities of today’s workforce, many workers have little notice of their work schedules and lack the ability to make changes to the work hours in such schedules, which undermines their ability to accommodate family responsibilities.
(3) (A) Mothers working in low-paid jobs are more likely to be the primary or sole breadwinner for their families than mothers working in higher-paid jobs. For example, almost 90 percent mothers in the 1 ⁄ 5 of households in the United States with the lowest incomes bring home all or most of their families’ income, which is almost 3 times higher when compared to counterparts in the highest-income quintile.
(B) At the same time, low-paid workers often have the least control over their work hours and face the most unpredictable schedules. In some industries, “just-in-time” scheduling practices, which base workers' schedules on perceived consumer demand to minimize labor costs, are particularly common. Employers using these practices often post work schedules with little notice, vary work hours widely from week to week, cancel shifts at the last minute, and schedule employees for “on call” shifts (requiring an employee to call in to work to find out whether the employee will have to work later that day) or “clopening” shifts (requiring an employee to work a closing shift at night followed by an opening shift a few hours later). For example, national survey data show that—
1. (i) about 2 ⁄ 3 of hourly retail and food service workers receive their work schedules with less than 2 weeks’ advance notice and about 1 ⁄ 3 receive their schedule with less than 1 week’s notice;
2. (ii) more than 1 in 5 hourly retail and food service workers have been scheduled for on-call shifts, and more than 1 in 3 have worked “clopening” shifts; and
3. (iii) 65 percent of hourly retail and food service workers would like a more stable and predictable schedule.
(4) Unfair work scheduling practices make it difficult for low-paid workers to—
1. (A) provide necessary care for children and other family members, including securing and maintaining stable child care;
2. (B) access and receive needed care for the workers’ own serious health conditions;
3. (C) pursue workforce training;
4. (D) get or keep a second job, which many workers need to make ends meet;
5. (E) plan for and access transportation to reach worksites; and
6. (F) qualify for and maintain eligibility for needed public benefits and work supports, such as child care subsidies, Medicaid, and benefits under the supplemental nutrition assistance program, due to fluctuations in income and work hours.
(5) A growing body of research demonstrates that unstable and unpredictable work schedules have significant detrimental impacts on sleep quality, mental health, and happiness, and are associated with unstable child care arrangements and negative health and behavioral outcomes for children. And impacts are likely to be the most severe for workers of color and their families, as workers of color are more likely than their White counterparts—even compared to White coworkers at the same company—to experience unstable work schedules. Unstable and unpredictable work schedules are also associated with higher rates of turnover, which creates further instability for employers and workers. Some examples of the detrimental impacts of unstable and unpredictable work schedules are as follows:
1. (A) Unstable work schedules lead to more household economic strain and time conflicts and undermine the well-being of parents, all of which can negatively impact children’s health and behavior.
2. (B) Workers with the most severe instability in their work schedules also face the highest risk of negative behavior and health outcomes for their children.
3. (C) The exposure of a parent to on-call shifts and last-minute shift changes are associated with more unstable child care arrangements and with the use of siblings to provide care.
4. (D) Work schedule instability causes more work-family conflict, which increases the chance that a worker will be forced to leave his or her job, and is associated with downward mobility of the earnings of the worker.
5. (E) (i) Relative to White workers, workers of color are more likely to—
  1. (I) have cancelled shifts;
  2. (II) have on-call shifts;
  3. (III) be involuntary part-time workers;
  4. (IV) have trouble getting time off; and
  5. (V) work “clopening” shifts, as described in paragraph (3)(B).
(6) Unpredictable and unstable work schedules are common in a wide range of occupations, with evidence of particular concentration in food service, retail, cleaning, hospitality, and warehouse occupations. These occupations are critically important to the United States economy.
(7) Since 2015, ten municipalities in the United States and the State of Oregon have enacted laws requiring employers to implement fair scheduling practices. Research from 3 municipalities affirms that workers in jobs covered by these laws report significantly better outcomes than their peers in uncovered positions, including more predictable schedules and compensation for employer-driven schedule changes. Survey research also indicates that covered workers experience improvements in well-being and financial security.
(8) Scheduling practices that benefit employees can benefit employers, too. Relative to their peers with lower-quality schedules, workers with more input, stability, and predictability in their work hours report greater job satisfaction and less work family-conflict, which can also improve productivity and reduce turnover. For example, a randomized experiment demonstrated that improving schedule stability and predictability for hourly employees at Gap Inc. stores increased store productivity and sales.
(9) This Act is a first step in responding to the needs of workers for a voice in the timing of their work hours and for more predictable schedules.