English 2

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Student Name
Professor Leon
ENC 1102
5 November 2016
It’s More than Punching in and Punching Out:
The Problems of Irregular Scheduling in the Retail Sales Industry
Entrepreneur Richard Branson said: “Success in business is all about people, people,
people. Whatever industry a company is in, its employees are its biggest competitive advantage”
(qtd. in Hartfield). And Branson is right. In order for a company to succeed, its leaders have to
focus and prioritize its employees so that those employees give their best to make the company
grow. One job that heavily influences the success of its employers is the job of sales associates.
Sales associates (SAs) are the front lines of their companies, and the demand for this job is
growing. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, retail jobs for SAs are expected to grow
“7%,” from 2014 to 2024. The role of SAs influences the success of their employers since SAs
are the bridge that connects consumers with retail businesses. However, these very important
workers are negatively affected by irregular scheduling that characterizes retail. Retail companies
should be looking for solutions to this problem that in the long term will affect their sales and
reputation. In order to solve the problem of irregular schedules that SAs face, retail companies
should implement the following remedies: assign a constant number of hours per week to its
employees, advise associates of any change in the schedule at least two weeks ahead, and
guarantee that SAs can enjoy better store hours or shift compensation.
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Retail SAs have always dealt with issues like irregular schedules. Historian Daniel A.
Graff in his article “Retail Workers,” writes that “[retail] workers faced poor working conditions
and pay, especially before the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938. Sales clerks
served unusually long hours, toiling from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, plus a half-day on Sundays.”
Issues like long shifts, irregular schedules, and inconvenient store hours are characteristic
problems that SAs have faced. Many were the attempts of SAs to unite forces and fight against
these problems that affect their working conditions. However, in the 21st Century, issues like
irregular schedules in retail continue affecting SAs. These problems are far from being solved,
and SAs keep facing the consequences of these irregularities.
Irregular schedules are characterized by the lack of weekly hours for SAs, the absence of
a reasonable time period to change or post schedules, and the presence of inopportune store hours
that brings with it inconvenient shifts. SAs are victims of irregular schedules because they are not
given as many hours as promised to them during the hiring process. Retail workers do not have a
fixed schedule, and SAs are not exempt from these irregular schedules that lead to internal
issues. In their article “Hours Equity is the New Pay Equity,” Professors Nantiya Ruan and
Nancy Reichman provide a scenario where they expose a “realistic representation” of SAs who
start the job thinking that they will get a certain number of hours because the company promised
them so; however, they realize, at the end, that those hours are not guaranteed to them (37-38).
This false promise can cause discontent among SA’s, who will then lose their trust in the
company that hired them.
Retail companies can give a solution to the irregular work hours by guaranteeing their
SAs at least twenty to twenty-five hours a week in spite of low retail seasons. Journalist Michelle
Chen points out in her article “Just Hours” that in stores like Bloomingdale, located in New
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York, this measurement of twenty to twenty-five hours was adopted, and employees were
guaranteed with a minimum of twenty-one hours a week, and it is actually working. This remedy
will be beneficial for SAs because it will guarantee that SAs have a consistent weekly schedule.
Also, a fixed number of hours will not leave holes in their paychecks from one week to another.
In other words, retail companies need to balance the hours available to avoid shortage periods.
Giving twenty to twenty-five weekly hours to SAs, no matter the season, will allow the company
to keep its promise and avoid upsetting employees.
Another issue that SAs face is that their shifts are very inconsistent. One day they can be on
the schedule to start their shifts at 3:00 p.m.; the next day they find out their clock-in time
changed to 5:00 p.m. These sudden changes directly affect SAs, who have to rearrange their
plans based upon that alteration of their schedules. Researchers Francoise J. Carré and Chris
Tilly make an analysis of this topic. In their article “Work Hours in Retail: Room for
Improvement,” they state that due to the debilitation of “institutional features that historically
had maintained hour levels and predictability” it is common for U.S Retail companies to provide
employees with their schedules “three days” in advance, and rarely “two weeks in advance”
(9,12). An issue of this magnitude is very prejudicial for SAs because not being able to have a
schedule on time or not being able to predict a change in the schedule causes frustration among
employees.
A solution for this issue would be for retail companies to implement policies that do not
allow managers to change employees’ schedules within two weeks prior to the day that needs to
be changed, unless there is an emergency or the employee agrees with the change. Following
ordinances like the one passed by the San Francisco Formula Retail Employee Rights
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Ordinances would ensure more predictability of the SAs’ schedules. According to the Office of
Labor Standards Enforcement website, the ordinance states that “[employers] must provide
employees with their schedules two weeks in advance [. . . .] If changes are made to an
employee’s schedule with less than seven days’ notice, the employer must pay the employee a
premium of 1 to 4 hours of pay at the employee’s regular hourly rate.” Following these policies
would ensure that SAs can enjoy a schedule that would not be changed with little or no notice.
Having to pay a fee for any change to the schedules outside the period allowed by the law would
be an incentive for retail companies to optimize their scheduling tools. SAs’ jobs deserve to be
rearranged in a way in which employees can feel calm because there won’t be any surprise when
they try to clock in the next day.
Other issues that affect SAs are the sometimes-uncomfortable shifts that include night shifts
and holiday shifts. As everybody knows, most retail stores remain open to the public until late at
night, and other stores like Walmart remain open twenty-four hours, seven days of the week. Erin
Johansson, Research Director of the organization American Rights at Work, makes an important
point about this issue. He speaks about how SAs from Walmart are directly affected by the
store’s overnight hours. Johansson supports his claim by using as a reference a Walmart
associate whose “overnight premium rate” was not enough to pay for taxis cabs, the only
transportation available to her during overnight shifts (21). Such cases like this Walmart
associate indicate that SAs are affected by a store’s hours of operation, which can also represent
the cause of financial problems. Solutions have to be found to avoid conflicts between
companies’ needs and the scheduling of retail SAs.
A solution that can solve the irregularity of the SAs’ schedules is by retail companies
offering better hours of operations. This practice of restricting store hours could be beneficial for
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SAs because they could balance their jobs and personal lives. A store that works from 8:00 a.m.
to 8:00 p.m. gives night shift employees the opportunity to make plans after work or go home
early to be ready for the next day. On the other hand, in case that the store needs to maintain its
hours of operations, better wages should be offered to SAs whose shifts take place overnight, on
weekends, or holidays. Francoise and Tilly also comment on this issue: “Mandating shift
differentials in pay for Sundays and holidays as well as for late-night hours might compel
changes in store hours and scheduling practices” (12). If retail companies do not want to take the
risk, more monetary benefits could be a compensation for SAs who, either by choice or force,
work late at night, offer their labor on weekends, or cannot spend holidays with their families.
These solutions are not only beneficial to SAs but also to retail companies. Researchers Nicolas
Chapados, Marc Joliveau, Pierre L’Ecuyer, and Louis-Martin Rousseau explain why. They state
in their article “Retail store scheduling for profit” that positive enhancement of employees’
schedules results in a “3%” sales increase for companies (2). This percentage can make a
difference for retail companies and therefore could be an incentive for them to offer better
schedules to their associates.
SAs are professionals who try their best to please their employers and customers. However,
this desire is not requited, and as a consequence, many issues arise surrounding the profession.
Bad scheduling practices implemented by retail companies have been inherit in retail businesses
for a long time. Retail companies are failing to recognize the value of their associates and
therefore hurting their rights. Remedies as assigning a fixed number of hours to their employees,
advising, in a timely manner, of any change in the schedule, and offering monetary compensation
for certain shifts could help to solve many of the problems that SAs have. Richard Branson made
an interesting point: employees, such as SAs, must be the priority of retail businesses. A failure
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in doing so will be a loss of the primary source of income for retail industries and their own
customers.
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Works Cited
Carré, Françoise and Tilly, Chris. “Work Hours in Retail: Room for Improvement” Upjhon
Institute for Employment Research, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research,
Policy Paper No. 2012-012, Apr. 2012. https://doi.org/10.17848/pol2015-012
Chapados, Nicolas et al. “Retail Store Scheduling For Profit.” European Journal of Operational
Research. vol. 239, no. 3, June 2014, pp. 609-624. ScienceDirect,
http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2014.05.033. Accessed on 15 Nov. 2016.
Chen, Michelle. “Just Hours.” Nation, vol. 298, no. 15, 14 Apr. 2014, pp. 6-8. EBSCOhost,
db03.linccweb.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9
h&AN=95114312&site=ehost-live.
“Formula Retail Employee Rights Ordinances.” Office of Labor Standards Enforcement, City
and County of San Francisco, http://sfgov.org/olse/formula-retail-employeerightsordinances. Accessed on 29 Nov. 2016.
Graff, Daniel. “Retail Workers.” Encyclopedia of Chicago. Chicago Historical
Society, http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1069.html. Accessed on 4
Dec. 2016.
Hartfield, Gary. “Business Success.” Gary Hartfield Stand,
http://garyhartfieldstand.com/business-success/. Accessed on 1 Dec. 2016.
Johansson, Erin. “Fighting For a Voice Walmart Workers Speak Out Despite Systematic Labor
Abuse.” Jobs with Justice, Jobs with Justice Education Fund, 20 May. 2013.
http://www.jwj.org/fighting-for-a-voice-walmart-workers-speak-out-despitesystematiclabor-abuse.
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Ruan, Nantiya and Nancy Reichman. “Hours Equity is the New Pay Equity” Villanova Law
Review, vol. 59, no. 1, Jan. 2014, pp. 35-82,
http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/vlr/vol59/iss1/2.
United States, Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Retails Sales Workers.” Occupational Outlook
Handbook, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 17 Dec. 2015,
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/sales/retail-sales-workers.htm.