SEATTLE — The city of Seattle conducted a survey, asking 776 employees about their work schedules.
While many were satisfied with their schedules, some described hardship with lack of advanced notice in their schedules, as well as wishing they could be given more hours to work.
Three in 10 respondents said they wanted to work more hours at their primary job. One in 10 said their work schedule made it difficult to pay their bills.
The survey showed nearly half of respondents were willing to take a 20 percent pay cut if it meant having one week’s advanced notice for their work schedules.
The city also reported that food service businesses more commonly engaged in problematic practices, but workers in retail were more likely to report hardships.
“Even if I’m scheduled for maybe four hours, for a shift, I’ll only end up working two, two and a half,” said Dante Alabastro. His business has more people on staff to deal with the lunch rush, but sometimes sends people home partway through a shift if business is slow.
“It can be an issue sometimes. Fortunately, I work two jobs, and the other job is a little bit more stable,” he said.
Maxim Dulaney does not work a second job, but said he’s looking. He said whenever he’s tight on money due to unpredictable hours, he postpones paying certain small charges.
“It can be very frustrating, but at the same time, a lot of us out here in Seattle have just looked inward and said, you know, I can handle getting a second job to support my goals and go to where I want to get to,” Dulaney said.
Lisa Herbold, a Seattle city councilmember, said “The survey results were very consistent with what we’re hearing from similar surveys nationally.”
Herbold said one way to address the lack of assigned hours is to require employers to offer new hours to existing employees, before hiring anyone new.
But David Jones, who is the franchisor of Blazing Onion and the franchisee of two Subway restaurants, said the problem is in how the issue is regulated.
Right now, there is a proposal to have employers wait a certain number of days to offer hours to existing employees, before they can hire.
“If no one wants the hours, I can’t hire someone until the end of that waiting period,” Jones said. “That’s the problem with legislating this. You could end up in a real bind, as far as being able to even staff your restaurant or just be short-handed.”
Jones said many people have experienced lack of hours before, and he sympathizes with the situation. But he said hard workers eventually get more hours in his establishments.
Cox Media Group
