L Brands, parent company of Victoria’s Secret, Henri Bendel and Bath & Body Works, announced that it will end on-call scheduling practices at all Bath & Body Works stores by October 2015. The decision comes five months after New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sent a letter to L Brands and 12 other retailers challenging the legality of the scheduling practices.
On-call scheduling requires store employees to be available for shifts that may be cancelled at the last minute, leaving workers with unpredictable schedules and erratic income. New York state labor laws ensure pay equal to four hours at minimum wage for hourly workers who report for a scheduled shift, even if a manager sends them home early.
“Employees deserve stable and reliable work schedules to adequately plan for childcare, transportation, and other basic needs,” Schneiderman said in a statement. “I commend Bath & Body Works for taking this important step.”
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Sister brand Victoria’s Secret previously informed its employees in June 2015 that it would no longer implement on-call shifts, and, as a result, has been phasing out the practice in its stores over the past few months.
Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret are two of many retailers that are eliminating on-call scheduling from their workforce management practices. In response to the letter from Attorney General Schneiderman, both Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch announced they would stop on-call scheduling altogether by the end of 2015.
In 10 states, legislators have proposed to guarantee workers advanced notice regarding their shift schedules.
