The Next Frontier for Workers’ Rights

In late November, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a Retail Workers’ Bill of Rights — the first law of its kind in the nation. The focus of the new law might surprise you. A bill of rights for workers is probably about wages, right? Think again. This new law is about fair scheduling. For years now, retail workers have protested not only their low wages, but also the erratic, unpredictable work schedules that have totally upended their lives. Known as “just-in-time scheduling,” this practice is enabled by technology that supposedly calculates how many employees are needed — and at what times — based on the ebbs and flows of consumer activity. That means a computer decides… Read more…