Wal-Mart has rolled out a new scheduling system that aims to give employees more control and predictability in their hours, but advocates who have been calling for such changes as a key step in the fight to improve low-wage workers’ lives expressed concerns that it falls short.
The new system launched late July in all 650 Wal-Mart Neighborhood Markets, the retailer’s smaller-footprint stores, and if successful it could eventually expand to all 4,600 Wal-Mart locations, said company spokesman Kory Lundberg.
Wal-Mart employs 53,600 people in Illinois, including about 1,700 at 18 Neighborhood Markets. As the nation’s largest private employer, its example could influence other retailers.
Under the new system, some employees will be able to have fixed schedules for up to six months. Others will continue to get their schedules three weeks in advance, as is the policy now, but when they request their hours they will be able to see the times and departments where there is the greatest need, Lundberg said.
The goal, he said, is to help associates better understand what’s available so that “there are not as many questions and unknowns” while also improving the experience for customers with proper staffing. Employees will continue to have the option to add additional hours by filling open shifts once the schedules are out.
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It isn’t clear how many people will be able to secure fixed schedules.
“Everybody will have the ability to sit down, talk to their manager and figure out what helps their needs,” Lundberg said. Wal-Mart officials plan to test the system through several retail cycles and convene after the holidays to discuss expanding it more broadly.
Scheduling practices in the retail industry have come under fire for disrupting workers’ quality of life. Volatile shifts, little control and last-minute staffing changes to accommodate real-time customer demand make it difficult for people to plan for child care, go to school, work a second job or have comfort that they will earn enough to pay their bills.
OUR Walmart, which advocates for workers’ rights, said the new policy makes some improvements, namely in offering fixed schedules. But the group said it doesn’t address concerns about a shortage of hours overall. And it worries that people who desire fixed schedules won’t be get a full 40 hours a week.
“Without detailing the percentage of the workforce who will have access to fixed shifts, ensuring that those with scheduling restrictions are eligible for full-time hours and adding hours to the stores, it is unclear if it truly addresses the need for consistent, full-time schedules,” the group said in the release.
Lundberg said “we will have a large number of fixed schedules that are 40 hours.”
Wal-Mart announced plans to make scheduling changes earlier this year when it also raised the minimum wage at its stores to $10 an hour. Other retailers including The Gap and Starbucks also have announced efforts to improve scheduling.
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