Story at a glance
- American workers aren’t just concerned about being able to work remotely — they also want other types of flexibility in the workplace, most notably in when they work.
- Many Americans would prefer if their employers became more relaxed about start and end times and meeting 40-hour week minimums every week.
- They argue that such policies could help workers prevent burnout and accommodate other responsibilities.
American workers, putting a greater emphasis on economic stability and work-life balance post-pandemic, are pressing their employers to be more flexible not just about where they work, but also when.
Workers looking to ward off burnout, accommodate second jobs, balance school and work or help take care of family are asking their employers for flexible start and end times, an end to the 40-hour work week and the freedom to choose which days of the week they work.
Those desires are widespread: One 2022 survey of more than 10,000 knowledge workers found that 94 percent wanted flexibility in when they work.
Many frontline workers are also interested in having more flexibility in the hours and days of the week they work, according to a recent Gallup survey.
Another 2023 survey from Harvard Business Review broke down what workers want in terms of schedule flexibility even further. According to the survey, 33 percent of on-site workers wanted flexible start and end times, 31 percent wanted to be able to choose the hours they work and 44 percent wanted to switch to four-day work weeks.
Research shows that employee-centered flexible work schedules have a positive impact on mental health, improving symptoms of depression, burnout and fatigue.
And some research shows workplaces that tailor schedules to workers’ needs see boosts in their bottom lines.
Amy Chin-Lai, president of the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union, asserted that having flexible end times in particular could benefit nonprofit workers, who often have fluctuating amounts of work at different times during the year.
Chin-Lai, who works at Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Action Network in addition to her union work, believes her own workplace is an example of how this policy can help keep workers from burning out — a common problem in the nonprofit world.
One 2022 study found that workers worldwide are suffering from burnout, and nonprofit workers are particularly susceptible.
“We’re expected to work an average of 40 hours a week, but we have an average because our schedules are often very busy during election season … or fundraising season or end-of-year grants,” said Chin-Lai.
“Those can be intense periods when you are working extreme hours.”
At her workplace, she said, employees are not required to clock in or out. Instead, it’s generally expected that workers and managers communicate about hours and capacity.
“I would love to see more nonprofit employers follow this model of mutual respect and trust,” she said, arguing that this approach helps prevent burnout and keep nonprofit workers at “the top of our game.”
Similarly, some workers want their employers to allow them to work longer hours on some workdays followed by longer stretches of off days to help accommodate other responsibilities.
One of those workers is Starbucks barista Daisy Federspiel-Baier, who is also a full-time student at the University of Washington.
Federspiel-Baier, who uses they/them pronouns, has found it challenging to balance their 20-plus hour work week on top of their full class load.
They tend to work five days a week on top of going to class and studying, which takes up about 30 to 40 hours of their time a week, they told The Hill.
“It doesn’t feel like I’m getting to rest or catch up on other things like household tasks like meal prep and laundry and things like that,” they said.
Federspiel-Baier believes it could help if Starbucks made it easier for them to work 10- to 12-hour days for two or three days a week.
A typical shift at Starbucks is between 4 to 8 hours a day, according to Starbucks Partners Hours.
Starbucks workers are technically able to request longer shift lengths, according to Federspiel-Baier, but they say such shifts are hard to come by.
On top of this, Federspiel Baier said Starbucks uses an elusive labor algorithm to determine worker shift lengths during the week. They told The Hill it’s unclear how the algorithm works, but that it appears to be linked to how much money a Starbucks location brings in during a week.
However it functions, they said, it makes it difficult to add hours to shifts.
Starbucks is dedicated to partner-centric scheduling and providing partners (employees) with hours that align with their individual needs and preferences is a top priority,” a Starbucks spokesperson said in an email. “This is reflected in Starbucks’ commitment to diligently create work schedules that carefully balance the availability of our partners with the staffing needs of individual stores.”
Some workers, meanwhile, are less concerned with breaking new ground in schedule flexibility than with making sure they aren’t forced to work more than they signed on to.
Trader Joe’s Union spokesperson Maeg Yosef told The Hill this is the case for many employees at the national grocery store chain.
Last year, Yosef said, the company unofficially began mandating employees work at least three days a week to remain employed.
Yosef contended in an email to The Hill that the policy unfairly discriminates against parents, students, those with disabilities or older crew members for whom Trader Joe’s is a “retirement job” and veterans who cut back on hours due to injuries.
“Flexibility is one of the draws of the job, and a lot of folks have come to depend on this part-time option,” said Yosef.
“As a crew member myself, it’s hard for me to see why the company would risk pushing out experienced, fully trained employees especially since working reduced hours is often due to temporary life circumstances such as new parenthood,” she said.
The Hill has reached out to Trader Joe’s for comment.
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