Walmart Tests Fixed Employee Scheduling

Walmart is trying out a new method for offering fixed employee scheduling at approximately 650 stores, according to The Wall-Street Journal.

The system allows select employees to have a set schedule for six months at a time, rather than finding out three weeks in advance when they’re slated to work, the article says.

The big-box retailer hasn’t announced how many or which workers will get fixed schedules, but currently the company is only testing the option at Walmart Neighborhood Market stores. Neighborhood Markets average 42,000 square feet in size and are grocery focused.

“As the country’s largest private employer, Wal-Mart can set the tone for the industry with any change it makes,” The Wall-Street Journal reports.

That means other large chains may follow the company’s example if it chooses to use the scheduling in all of its nearly 5,000 U.S. stores, most of which are massive supercenters.

Employee scheduling done further in advance would give staffers more time to think through when they can work, potentially lessening the possibility of losing shifts and giving “workers greater sway over their schedules,” the article says.

“Wal-Mart doesn’t use on-call scheduling, a system that is widespread in retail in which employees are told to come to work or stay home with the little notice,” the article says.

“But in Wal-Mart’s case, employees fear that if they limit their available hours, they won’t be given enough hours,” Dan Schlademan, from worker advocacy group Our Walmart, told The Wall-Street Journal.