DeLauro, Murphy Visit East Haven To Highlight Need For The Schedules That Work Act

Press Release

Connecticut Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro and Senator Chris Murphy today held a roundtable discussion in East Haven to highlight the need for the Schedules That Work Act. The legislation, which would establish fair and reasonable workplace scheduling practices by empowering hourly employees with greater scheduling flexibility and predictability, will be introduced later this month.

"The single biggest economic issue facing American families today is that too many jobs do not pay enough to live on," said DeLauro. "Millions of Americans are juggling work and family responsibilities. They cannot be expected to do that unless they have predictable schedules and stable paychecks. Congress needs to do more to increase the earning capacity of working people and the Schedules That Work Act is a key part of that."

"As we heard today, this effort is about giving hourly workers the freedom and stability to be there for their kids, budget their money, and make time for a life without being tethered to their jobs. Hourly workers can't plan for the future, let alone next month, when they don't know how many hours they'll work or even which days of the week they'll be expected to work," said Murphy. "I'll continue working alongside my friend Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro to pass the Schedules That Work Act because it's a commonsense way to improve workers' lives."

DeLauro is the lead sponsor of the Schedules That Work Act in the House of Representatives and Murphy is a key sponsor in the Senate. It would give employees a voice at work, benefitting both business and families. Businesses can incur significant costs as a result of unpredictable scheduling for their employees, such as high worker turnover and absenteeism.

They were joined at today's roundtable by: Jillian Gilchrest, Senior Policy Analyst for the Connecticut Permanent Commission on the Status of Women; Todd Berch, Field Director for the AFL-CIO; Ana Maria Rivera, Political Director for the Connecticut Working Families Party; Julio López Varona, Lead Organizer for Make the Road CT; Shane Allen, Organizer for UFCW and service workers from Branford, New Haven and West Haven.

A recent report by the Center for Popular Democracy showed that around 90 percent of young food service and retail workers are subjected to irregular hours. They also found that 75 percent of people in the beginning stages of their career "report at least some fluctuations in the number of hours they worked in the prior month." That fluctuation, on average, was more than a full 8-hour day of work.

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