Low hourly wages aren't the only thing that keep workers in the fast food and retail industries struggling. Scheduling matters, too. These days it's common for workers to not know their schedules more than a week ahead; to be on call, ready to go to work with no notice, but not guaranteed any pay; for their hours (and therefore their paychecks) to vary enormously month to month; or to be forced to work split shifts, with a few hours of work in the morning and a few hours at the end of the day. All of this doesn't just affect paychecks, it makes it difficult for workers to raise their incomes by getting a second job, and it costs them as they try to line up child care for unpredictable schedules. Democrats, led by Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Patty Murray, and Chris Murphy and Reps. Rosa DeLauro and Bobby Scott, have a bill to fix that , or at least start to fix it: the Schedules That Work Act.

The bill:



Protects Workers who Ask for Schedule Changes

All employees of companies with more than 15 workers will have the right to request changes in their schedules without fear of retaliation. Employers would be required to consider and respond to all schedule requests, and, when a worker's request is made because of a health condition, child or elder care, a second job, continued education, or job training, the employer would be required to grant the request unless a legitimate business reason precludes it. Incentivizes Predictable and Stable Schedules in Occupations with Known Scheduling Abuses

Employees in food service, cleaning, and retail occupations—as well as additional occupations with documented scheduling abuses designated by the Secretary of Labor—will now get their work schedules two weeks in advance and will receive additional pay when they are put "on-call" without any guarantee that work will be available; report to work only to be sent home early; are scheduled for a "split shift;" or receive changes to their schedule with less than 24 hours notice.

There are two things to note about this: First, it's the kind of bill Democrats wouldn't be proposing without worker activism drawing attention to the problem. Second, it's the kind of bill Republicans will never pass, so for workers to have these protections, we need to elect Democrats.