WASHINGTON — Today, as the busy holiday shopping season begins, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) applauded Gap Inc. for their recent decision to eliminate on-call scheduling practices for employees at Gap, Old Navy, Athleta, Intermix, and Banana Republic retail stores, and for their leadership in providing fair and predictable work schedules to their retail workers. In a letter to Gap Inc.’s Chief Executive Officer, Art Peck, Murphy emphasized that for the nearly 136,000 retail workers in Connecticut, those workers without predictable schedules often face undue burdens to professional advancement, making it harder to work a second job, take care of family members, or attend school. Murphy encouraged Gap Inc. to continue working to ensure the fair treatment of their employees, and to assist other retail companies in following their efforts.

Earlier this Congress, Murphy and his colleagues introduced the Schedules that Work Act – legislation that would put an end to unpredictable and rigid scheduling practices like placing workers "on-call" with no guarantee of work hours, scheduling them for "split shifts" of non-consecutive hours, sending workers home early without pay when demand is low, and punishing workers who request schedule changes. Murphy is a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. 

“Your recent decision to end on-call scheduling in all of Gap Inc.’s brand stores is an important step towards fair treatment for retail store workers,” wrote Murphy. “As you know, many employees in the retail industry are forced to be prepared to work a shift which the employer may suddenly cancel, or are given their weekly work schedules with only a few days’ notice. These workers deserve the same protections and opportunities that should be afforded to all members of our workforce – most importantly a fair living wage, access to reasonable benefits and worker protections, and the stability afforded by a reliable work schedule. While there is much more to be done to ensure all American workers have access to a stable and predictable work schedule, your decision to end on-call scheduling brings us closer to this goal. I sincerely appreciate your efforts to provide your workers with the predictable schedules that promote a vital work-life balance, and encourage you to continue to be a voice for better treatment of workers in your industry.”

Unpredictable scheduling practices disproportionately affect low-wage workers and workers in retail, food service, and cleaning occupations, and make it hard for these workers and their families to maintain stable child care, care for other family members, pursue career development or other education, get or keep a second job, or take care of their own health. Variable schedules can also lead to significant fluctuations in income for workers. As a result, workers struggle to manage their household incomes and balance professional responsibilities with individual and family needs.

The full text of Murphy’s letter is below:

Art Peck
Chief Executive Officer, Gap Inc.
2 Folsom Street
San Francisco, CA 94105

Dear Mr. Peck:

I write to thank you for your leadership in the effort to provide reliable work schedules to American retail employees. Your recent decision to end on-call scheduling in all of Gap Inc.’s brand stores is an important step towards fair treatment for retail store workers, as is your commitment to work with researchers to pilot alternative practices to promote stable scheduling for hourly workers. I sincerely appreciate these efforts, and urge you to commit yourself to ensuring that the decision to end on-call scheduling is implemented effectively and that other unpredictable scheduling practices, such as extending shifts without notice, are not substituted for on-call scheduling. I also encourage you to explore, in partnership with your employees, further steps you can take to provide your employees with a stable, predictable, work schedule and to encourage other retail companies to follow your leadership.

There are nearly 136,000 retail workers in the state of Connecticut, and over 4.5 million across the country. As you know, many employees in the retail industry are forced to be prepared to work a shift which the employer may suddenly cancel, or are given their weekly work schedules with only a few days’ notice. These workers deserve the same protections and opportunities that should be afforded to all members of our workforce – most importantly a fair living wage, access to reasonable benefits and worker protections, and the stability afforded by a reliable work schedule. That is why earlier this Congress, I was proud to help introduce the Schedules that Work Act, legislation that, in addition to ending on-call scheduling, would address unstable and unpredictable scheduling practices such as, “split shift” scheduling, sending employees home early without pay when demand is low, and punishing workers who request schedule changes. While there is much more to be done to ensure all American workers have access to a stable and predictable work schedule, your decision to end on-call scheduling brings us closer to this goal.

As you may know, workers without predictable schedules often face undue burdens to professional advancement, such as an inability to find time to work a second job or to attend school. Workers with children face even more challenges – according to a recent report from the Economic Policy Institute, children of parents with unpredictable work schedules suffer from a higher likelihood of cognitive and behavioral difficulties. Unfortunately, these effects often disproportionately harm opportunities for the most disadvantaged families in our workforce.

I sincerely appreciate your efforts to provide your workers with the predictable schedules that promote a vital work-life balance, and encourage you to continue to be a voice for better treatment of workers in your industry. It is my hope that both private American companies and our government can work together to ensure fair treatment for workers in Connecticut and across the country.


Sincerely,


___________________________
Christopher S. Murphy
United States Senator