Kids are paying a price for your service

It’s challenging enough to juggle a rigid work schedule with the demands of your life schedule. But for many Philadelphians in the workforce, particularly in the low-wage service industry, juggling would be a luxury compared to the daily chaos they deal with.

The chaos is due to unpredictable, inconsistent, shift- and need-based work scheduling, often referred to as “just-in-time” scheduling. This is a punishing routine for anyone, but particularly for parents of young children.

“Just-in-time” practices commonly include short notice of work scheduling, cancelled or shortened shifts when business slows, splitting a shift to span an entire day, etc. These parents aren’t occasionally sacrificing commitments related to their kids for their jobs. Because of the perpetual chaos, they can’t afford to make commitments in the first place.

Unpredictable scheduling not only means the pain of unpredictable incomes, but it also imposes tremendous stress on parents and kids trying to manage child care, job training or classes, and/or a second or third job.

That’s why several cities and states have “fair workweek” legislation in their books. But not Philadelphia.

We’re hoping to change that.

Fair Workweek laws can help parents keep their jobs, earn more, and help parents plan for the care of their children. That’s why a growing coalition of business leaders, advocates, and officials are pushing for a Fair Work Week Employer Standards bill for Philadelphia.

The bill includes common sense practices that are long overdue:

• Two week advance notice of work schedules for employees of large retail, restaurant, or hotel companies (for companies with more than 250 employees)
• An extra hour of pay when employees are called in to work on short notice to cover the cost of shifting their schedules (only when there is no public emergency or severe weather)
  
• Employees granted the opportunity to apply for new opportunities before their employee posts publicly
  
• Employees to be informed how many hours they can expect to work when offered a job
  

We’ll keep you up to date as this conversation proceeds, but in the meantime, we cordially invite you to take part. Join us on October 15, 2018, at 6 PM, for “Women In The Workforce”, a panel discussion on issues facing women in the workplace and what women are doing to change it.

The panel, taking place at the Philadelphia Inquirer building, 801 Market Street, Suite 300, will include Seattle City Councilmember Lorena Gonzalez, Inquirer reporter Juliana Reyes, and Women’s Medical Fund Executive Director Elicia Gonazales.

Register to attend by clicking this link or on the image above.