Predictable Scheduling
Predictable scheduling involves ensuring that employees have some control over their scheduled working hours, not changing work schedules without employees’ consent, and/or giving employees advanced warning about changes to their work schedules.
Benefits to EmployersFootnote # 1
- Increases productivity
- Increases retention, reducing turnover costs
- Reduces employee absenteeism
- Increases morale, loyalty, commitment
Benefits to Children and Parents/FamiliesFootnote # 2,Footnote # 3
- Allows employees to plan for child care, transportation, and budgets
- Leads to better child development outcomes because of more stability for childcare arrangements, which improves cognitive
and behavioral outcomes and language development - Lowers stress for parents and improves overall healthy behaviors
Research or Recommendations from National Organizations
The National Women’s Law Center, a nonprofit that advocates for equality and opportunity for women and families, recommends:Footnote # 4
- Allowing employees to have input into their work schedule.
- Providing at least two weeks’ notice of work schedule.
- Discouraging last-minute schedule shifts.
- Expanding opportunities for part-time workers, including a minimum hour guarantee and opportunity for promotion.
In 2018, Oregon became the first state to pass a “fair scheduling” law, and several states, including North Carolina, have introduced predictable or fair scheduling legislation. North Carolina’s proposed legislation would require employers to post work schedules 14 days in advance and would mandate a specified amount of “predictability pay” if changes are made to an employee’s schedule within seven days of a shift.
Women are disproportionately affected by the problems caused by unstable schedules because women not only hold the majority of low-paid jobs but also still shoulder the majority of caregiving responsibilities.Footnote # 5
Parents with fluctuating or nontraditional schedules, which encompasses about half of low-wage workers, have difficulty accessing high quality, affordable, licensed child care. Child care providers are typically unable to accommodate last-minute scheduling changes or variable hours and are much less likely to operate during evening and weekend hours.Footnote # 6
Parents who face job scheduling challenges are more likely to use multiple child care arrangements. Experts agree that stability in child care arrangements is important for child development. Footnote # 7
Young children of food and retail workers subject to last-minute scheduling go an average of 15 days per year without childcare or supervision, nearly double the amount of those who are not subject to last-minute scheduling. Footnote # 8
Range of Practices in the United States
Almost three-quarters of hourly workers ages 26-32, who are most likely to have young children at home, report that their work hours fluctuate from week to week. Footnote # 9
Across industries, more than one-third of wage and salary workers have employers who decide schedules without their input. In retail and food service jobs—two industries where unpredictable scheduling practices are common—close to half of employees report having little to no input into their work schedules.
Across industries, more than two in five wage and salary workers know their schedules less than one month in advance. Nearly one in five has no more than one week’s notice. Footnote # 10
Case Study
An updated version of this case study was published February 25, 2025, you can read it here.
Eastcut Sandwich Bar started as the brainchild of two guys from New York. Brad Bankos and Steve Wuench bring the art of the delicatessen sandwich to Durham in a comfortable and approachable way, and that welcoming, family-friendly environment extends to their employees, as well.
Their mission clearly states they are a “people business” with a focus on offering fair pay, a safe and comfortable work environment, and fostering development and growth.
These values are what led Bankos and Wuench to implement more family-friendly practices like accrued paid time off and maternity packages in an industry where both practices aren’t as prevalent. Less than half of food service workers have paid sick leave, and only 20 percent of all workers have access to paid family leave.
Beyond following their values, Bankos and Wuench both say adding family-friendly practices has led to better business outcomes, too. Turnover has gone down, and employees feel cared for, which fosters loyalty and boosts morale.
“We feel like morale at Eastcut has improved over the course of time as we’ve iterated on these family friendly practices,” says Bankos.
These iterations are based on conversations and feedback from their current staff and what would help them. That’s how they began to form a maternity package.
When Eastcut’s Front of House Manager Tricia Buzzelli became pregnant during the COVID pandemic, Bankos and Wuench started talking with Buzzelli about her needs and how they could accommodate her as an expectant mother. “They wanted to support me through my pregnancy and wanted me back after,” says Buzzelli.
This kind of support is invaluable to her. As she puts it, “I could go find another job, but I wouldn’t find people who care about me and want me to be successful as a working mom as much as they do.”
Bankos and Wuench eventually offered Buzzelli two weeks (80 hours) of pay at $15.00 an hour – unprecedented in the restaurant industry. “It was only a couple weeks” says Wuench, “but we thought it was the right thing to do. I think it’s part of a broader theme of what we want to accomplish in 2021.”
As Bankos and Wuench look forward, they have altered their paid time off policy and are figuring out how to incorporate health care into their benefits suite. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, they knew they had to provide a way for all of their employees to take the time they needed to care for themselves and their families. They extended their paid time off accrual benefit to all employees – part-time and full-time. “When we announced this broader initiative,” says Wuench, “we received a lot of positive feedback.”
Beyond what Bankos and Wuench call their “human reasons” for making these changes, the owners of Eastcut have also seen economic benefits to implementing family friendly policies. “We’ve seen clear results,” says Bankos, “Our turnover data has really gone in the right direction, and we’ve been able to attract stronger, more motivated and stable talent.”
“When I go to work,” says Buzzelli, “everyone’s happy. Everyone supports everyone. And that comes from the top down.”
This kind of environment had made all the difference for Eastcut employees. “Sometimes you can feel like a slave to the industry,” says Buzzelli, “But if restaurants widely adopted family friendly practices like maternity leave, health insurance, and paid time off, I think people would feel valued and thanked.”
Sample Benefits
- Paid Time Off
- Competitive living wage, with potential for performance bonuses
- Employee dining program
- Ongoing training in restaurant management and financials
- Bi-weekly, direct deposit