We’ve written multiple times about how employers can help entice workers to join or stay with their organizations for relatively little cost through perks like flexible work schedules and work-from-home opportunities. Many employers are increasingly moving in this direction.
Tipping the Scales
But, on what can be considered the opposite end of the work scheduling and flexibility scale is something often referred to as “unstable scheduling” or “just-in-time scheduling.” These arrangements still provide a great deal of flexibility, but that flexibility directly favors the employer.
We’ve discussed in previous posts how such arrangements lower employee morale and engagement, but a new study also suggests they may be bad for employee health as well.
Types of Unstable Scheduling Practices
That study, by the University of California Hastings College of Law and published on the school’s Worklife Law blog defines several types of these scheduling practices:
- On Call: Ensuring the employee is available for the hours needed by the employer
- Nonguaranteed: Leaving employees uncertain whether they will actually work the hours they’re on call for
- Inconsistent: With shifts varying from week to week
- Late Notice: Often posted just days before they take effect
“These employer scheduling practices cause instability for the workers that can limit their earnings, impede performance, and create stress and work-life interference that undermines worker health and well-being,” says the Worklife Law blog.
In addition to the financial impacts of unstable scheduling practices, the report noted potential health impacts as well. Negative health effects were attributed to three primary factors: poor sleep quality, reduced amount of sleep, and higher levels of stress.
Stable Schedules Boost Health
The study used what it called a stability “intervention” to put unstable scheduled workers on a stable schedule, then monitored them for changes in financial, physical, and mental well-being. Being placed on a stable schedule was shown to improve both sleep and stress factors.
Workplace flexibility can be very beneficial for employers. It allows them to have tight control over how much money they are spending day to day, but it has demonstrably negative impacts on employee well-being.