In industries with part-time, seasonal, or variable labor demand—such as food and beverage service or event management—employees are often frustrated by the inability to know when they’ll be scheduled to work more than a week or two in advance. Does predictive scheduling cure that?
Anyone who has worked in such industries is probably familiar with the practice of checking a schedule when it gets posted to see what days he or she will be scheduled over the next couple of weeks and then adjusting personal schedules and commitments accordingly. These scheduling practices obviously have potential negative impacts on work/life balance—something that employees of all generations have come to value.
Even full-time, standard-shift employees can be negatively impacted if their managers aren’t flexible in providing options for work hours. Perhaps an employee has to take a day off to care for a sick child or wants to attend a wedding across the country that requires some travel time.
Predictive scheduling is emerging as a way to potentially combat the uncertainty of scheduling for employees and to provide some control over working hours. In some cases, state and local governments are enacting legislation to ensure that employers allow their employees more flexibility in scheduling.
NYC Takes Steps
New York City is one example of a big city, and employment market, to pass a law that will soon allow employees to temporarily change their work schedules to attend to certain personal events. Under the new law, employers within New York City will be required to grant employees’ requests for a temporary change to their work schedules at least twice per calendar year for up to 1 business day per request. These temporary changes could include the ability to work remotely, allowing flexible use of paid time off, or swapping shifts with coworkers.
Laws like those recently passed in New York City are a boon to employees, but even in areas where such laws don’t exist (yet), savvy employers should consider offering similar options. In a tight labor market, and knowing the value employees place on flexibility in scheduling, employers can gain a competitive advantage by enacting such policies regardless of any governmental requirement. The best employees tend to flock to what they perceive to be the best companies. For many, flexibility matters; such flexibility may represent a relatively inexpensive way for employers to stand out.