December 20th, 2016 by WCBC Radio
Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh, along with attorneys general from seven other states and the District of Columbia, announced that a number of national retailers doing business in Maryland have agreed to stop using on-call shift scheduling following an inquiry by the multi-state coalition of attorneys general. Employees assigned to on-call shifts are required to call their employer, typically an hour or two before a scheduled shift, to find out if they will be assigned to work that day. If they are not assigned work, they receive no pay. An estimated 50,000 workers nationwide will benefit from the agreements to end the burdensome scheduling practice.
“On-call shifts impose unnecessary hardships on retail workers and their families,” said Attorney General Frosh. “The commitments made by these companies will result in fairer treatment and more predictable schedules for many Maryland retail workers, allowing employees to make additional commitments to their families and to advance their personal and careergoals.”
The companies – Aeropostale, Carter’s, Disney, PacSun, and Zumiez – were among 13 large retailers that received joint inquiry letters from the 9 attorneys general in April of this year seeking information and documents related to their use of on-call shifts. These five companies reported that they were using on-call shifts, but after discussions with the attorneys general’s offices, all agreed to stop doing so, and none are currently using on-call shifts. The remaining companies responded that they did not use the practice or had recently ended it.
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