Highly variable, unpredictable schedules of women in the retail sales sector : can they be reconciled with family responsibilities?

Increasingly, work schedules in retail sales are generated by software that takes into account variations in predicted sales.  The resulting schedules are highly variable, resulting  in distress and health problems among workers and their families.  At the request of the union and with employer collaboration, we studied work schedules and preferences in a large franchised retail store chain in Québec, Canada, in order to improve fit between family needs and schedules.  Work was first observed for 29 hours (7 workers) in two stores and five schedule managers were interviewed.  A questionnaire was administered to sales workers in 7 other stores; it concerned family status, current schedules and schedule preferences.  Of 610 workers present in the stores on the days the questionnaire was administered, 90% responded.  Workers received their weekly schedules two days before the week began.  Shift start times varied on average by 4h over the week; 83% had worked >1 day the previous weekend.  Only 14% of respondents were responsible for a child under 18, well below the Canadian average for workers.  Of respondents, 33% found it difficult to balance work and private life (more among women, especially those with family responsibilities and with younger children).  Men’s difficulties were not associated with any family characteristic, but  both genders associated their difficulties with the work schedule.  A majority of workers expressed the wish for: advance notice of scheduling;  early shifts; more regular schedules; two days off in a row; weekends off.  Cluster analysis showed diversity in schedule choices, so work scheduling software could potentially be adapted to take preferences into account.  Also, employers could give better advance notice for work schedules and establish systems for shift exchanges.  Governments could  limit store opening hours and schedule variability while prolonging the minimum sequential duration of leave per week (now 32h in Québec).