Are Erratic Scheduling Practices Causing Financial Instability for Your Hourly Lab Employees?

A study reveals that for today’s hourly workforce, missing a single shift comes at a steep cost.

New research from WorkJam, a digital workplace platform, found that for nearly half of employees surveyed, one missed shift means late payments on rent, utilities, and other basic necessities.

“Today’s workforce is living paycheck to paycheck,” says Steven Kramer, co-founder, president, and CEO of WorkJam. “For them, the loss of a single shift can jeopardize control over their entire livelihood.”

Titled “The Economic Impact of Missing a Single Shift,” the study is based on data collected from over 1,000 U.S.-based hourly employees and employers across the healthcare, retail, hospitality, logistics, and banking industries.

It exposes the far-reaching implications of missing a single shift, including:

• being unable to pay utilities on-time (49 percent of respondents),
• missing rent (27 percent of respondents), and
• foregoing groceries for a week (25 percent of respondents).

According to Kramer, these findings should call attention to the impact miscommunication and erratic scheduling practices has on frontline workers.

“It’s never been more important for employers to make communication and scheduling a priority, so that they aren’t putting their employees at risk of foregoing basic necessities,” he said.

But improving scheduling is a tall order for industries still reliant on outdated methods. As the study revealed, 55 percent of hospitality and 57 percent of retail workers still depend on paper schedules posted in break rooms to determine their weekly shift assignments.

“Miscommunication and scheduling inconsistencies deepen the disconnect between employers and their frontline employees,” Kramer said. “This drives down employee engagement, which can have a major impact on a company’s bottom-line.”

According to Kramer, a consistent work schedule can empower hourly employees to control their economic well-being. By simplifying the front-end distribution and management of schedules and unexpected shift changes, digital workplace platforms such as WorkJam help managers improve staffing while aligning work shifts to the needs of their employees.