Saravanan Kesavan, Kenan-Flagler Business School
Employer scheduling practices are an important source of employment instability that can limit earnings, impede worker performance, and create stress and work-life interferences that undermine worker health and well-being. Widespread acknowledgement of the impact of these challenges on thousands of working class households has triggered several policy debates regarding the need for more stable schedules across a variety of industries. However, evidence on the benefits and challenges of changing scheduling practices is still lacking. Using data from a cluster-randomized experiment conducted in partnership with a national apparel retailer (Gap, Inc.), we propose to examine ways in which the stability of workers’ schedules can be improved without affecting the financial bottomline of retailers. Stores in San Francisco and Chicago (N=30) were part of a randomized workplace experiment that began October 2015 and ended August 31, 2016.