Nightmares of Socialism XXVII: Minneapolis Fair-Scheduling Rules

[ksen]

If such an era existed, apparently they eventually didn't and they switched more flexible "just in time" scheduling.

Yes, yes . . . leave it to today's brilliant businessmen to come up with a process that costs more and produces worse results and is physically damaging to its employees and call it progress.

 

[maxparrish]

Perhaps you'd like to come to my house and identify that "thing" titled the Yellow Pages left in my driveway yesterday?

A dinosaur?

Nope, not a fossil. Has Yellow Pages and thousands of business listings, you know, just like the ones the Minneapolis City Council and you presume to "more wisely" manage.

 

[Ford]

A dinosaur?

Nope, not a fossil. Has Yellow Pages and thousands of business listings, you know, just like the ones the Minneapolis City Council and you presume to "more wisely" manage.

I at least have experience managing in a real business setting, as opposed to your missives from Libertopia.

 

[Nice Squirrel]

A dinosaur?

Nope, not a fossil. Has Yellow Pages and thousands of business listings, you know, just like the ones the Minneapolis City Council and you presume to "more wisely" manage.

We no longer have phone books here. Then again the city is wiring fiber optic cable to our inter webs.

 

[lpetrich]

As does "I quit" if you don't like schedule changes.

As if it was easy to survive without a job or else that one can start in another one the next day.

But if employees could get away with quitting so easily, then I think that a lot of right-wingers would get all grumpy about how employees have no incentive to work, about all the laziness and poor performance that employees can get away with.

 

[coloradoatheist]

As does "I quit" if you don't like schedule changes.

As if it was easy to survive without a job or else that one can start in another one the next day.

But if employees could get away with quitting so easily, then I think that a lot of right-wingers would get all grumpy about how employees have no incentive to work, about all the laziness and poor performance that employees can get away with.

Do they since turnover in a lot of industries like retail is very high?

 

[KeepTalking]

If someone gets sick, then you either wind up short handed or call someone and ask if they can cover the shift. That's not the problem here, though. This whole discussion is based upon employers asserting that they cannot schedule more than a day or two in advance, that it is an undue burden upon them to schedule employees to consistent and regular shifts, and that it is employees rather than employers who should have to suffer the consequences.

That's complete and utter bullshit. Again, I've been in this situation before as a manager. You don't just throw up your hands and refuse to make a schedule just because one of your line cooks called in sick one day. You make the schedule based upon projections and adapt if necessary. If things are slow and you send a guy home early, then there's a sudden rush, guess who gets to put on an apron and help out in the kitchen? The manager. Because if I called someone and said "hey, looks like we've got an unexpected late afternoon rush" they'd probably arrive to late to do anything except get pissed off and go back home.

And the businesses do make schedules both short and long, but like normal people's schedules, they change too. Employees also want the advantage to say they want to take a day off and I don't always look four weeks ahead.

Most employers require two weeks notice for scheduled time off. I think forcing businesses to schedule four weeks out is a bit on the ridiculous side, but I wouldn't mind seeing rules that require employers to schedule out as far as they require notice for paid time off. So, if you require your employees to ask for time off two weeks in advance, you should also have to schedule two weeks in advance. If you are only scheduling two days in advance, well then, you have to let your employees request paid time off only two days in advance. Maybe that would solve part of the problem.

 

[fromderinside]

The solution to getting people to accept schedule changes are accommodations on-site for children, higher pay, and more courtesy from management.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Most employers require two weeks notice for scheduled time off. I think forcing businesses to schedule four weeks out is a bit on the ridiculous side, but I wouldn't mind seeing rules that require employers to schedule out as far as they require notice for paid time off. So, if you require your employees to ask for time off two weeks in advance, you should also have to schedule two weeks in advance. If you are only scheduling two days in advance, well then, you have to let your employees request paid time off only two days in advance. Maybe that would solve part of the problem.

I do like the idea but I don't think it would solve all that much--how much time off do such people get in the first place??

 

[Axulus]

Those crazy idealists think they should have a life outside of work.​

http://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/09/22/work-schedules

Under the current draft of the proposed ordinance, Jackson's employer would have to pay him an extra hour's wages when it makes a change like that. He'd get four hours extra pay if the change was made with less than a day's notice.

The proposed ordinance would also address another complaint Jackson has about his schedule — back-to-back shifts.

Four weeks is excessive. IMHO

So does this mean that if someone calls in sick or is a no show, they get docked 4 hours of pay in order to make up for the extra wages of the person that had to fill in?

 

[crispy]

Those crazy idealists think they should have a life outside of work.​

http://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/09/22/work-schedules





Four weeks is excessive. IMHO

So does this mean that if someone calls in sick or is a no show, they get docked 4 hours of pay in order to make up for the extra wages of the person that had to fill in?

Seems to me its the employers problem.

 

[Toni]

Yeah, a week would be sufficient.

But I'm not surprised at the overreaction given at how shittily employers have been exploiting scheduling.

A week is not sufficient if you are trying to schedule doctor's or dentists' appointments, for one thing. Which might be somewhat less of an issue if you don't have kids but if you do, then this sort of need--and it is a need--will come up frequently. But even without kids, it can be very challenging.


The other thing is that for many part time workers, i.e. workers who need full time hours but are only able to get part time hours and so must try to juggle multiple part time jobs, which falls somewhere between very challenging to impossible if the schedule isn't posted sufficiently far in advance.

What really sucks is being on the schedule which was posted 3 or 4 days ago and turning away a shift at your second or third job only to be cut really early after you show up on short notice. Which happens.

And truly, I just don't get why employers do this. Their hours of operation typically do not change from week to week. Usually, they can anticipate when a busy time will be and schedule additional hours for people during those times. Sure,there will be occasional crunch times when on short notice, people are home with the flu or there's a big rush on (some product) and you need more people than planned. Pretty often, simply asking for volunteers to pick up hours works. If you aren't a jerk of an employer anyway.

Discussion I've had with one of my kids back when the kid was juggling or attempting to juggle multiple jobs with one or more employers not posting a schedule even a week in advance. While expecting requests for time off to be submitted > a month in advance. In fact, why won't most employers simply have schedules that are predictable for all of their employees? It's not that difficult. I've made up such schedules myself. Makes everyone's life much easier, because their work schedule is more predictable. Everyone is happier, less stressed. Which in turn reduces absenteeism. Makes the employer happier and saves money long run.