By Kristen Harknett

Older Workers with Unpredictable Schedules: Implications for Well-being and Job Retention

A substantial portion of the service sector workforce is middle aged or older, but little is known about the scheduling conditions of these older workers. This study describes the quality of work schedules in the service sector by age and tests associations of unpredictable schedules with well-being and job retention among workers ages 50-80.

Paid Family Leave and New Jersey’s Service Sector Workforce

Despite the widespread need to take leave from work when faced with a caregiving obligation or when welcoming a new child to the family, many workers in the U.S. lack comprehensive paid leave with job protection and so are forced to choose between taking care of their families or preserving their jobs.

Mandates Narrow Gender Gaps In Paid Sick Leave Coverage For Low-Wage Workers In The US

Paid sick leave helps workers recover from illness and manage care obligations and protects public health. Yet access to paid sick leave remains limited and unequal in the United States.

Parenting without Predictability: Precarious Schedules, Parental Strain, and Work-Life Conflict

Against the backdrop of dramatic changes in work and family life, this article draws on survey data from 2,971 mothers working in the service sector to examine how unpredictable schedules are associated with three dimensions of parenting: difficulty arranging childcare, work-life conflict, and parenting stress.

Low Pay, Less Predictability: Fast Food Jobs in California

In January 2022, the California State Assembly voted in support of a first-of its-kind labor bill, known as the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act (FAST Recovery Act).

National survey of gig workers paints a picture of poor working conditions, low pay

A survey of gig workers in the spring of 2020 revealed that their jobs provided poor working conditions, even relative to other service-sector workers, who themselves typically receive low pay.

Good if you can get it: Benefits and inequalities in the expansion of paid sick leave during COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has focused attention on the important role that frontline retail, grocery, food service, and delivery workers play in the U.S. economy as well as on the difficult and often precarious working conditions these jobs involve.  The Families First Coronavirus Response Act exempted large employers from paid sick-leave requirements, even though prior to the pandemic, more than half of service-sector workers at large employers lacked access to paid sick leave. We draw on novel survey data from the Shift Project, collected from service-sector workers employed at large companies, to examine whether employers voluntarily increased paid sick leave when...

The Company Wage Tracker: Estimates of Wages at 66 Large Service Sector Employers

In this brief, we report wage distributions for hourly workers at 66 large service-sector firms, using unique survey data collected from Facebook and Instagram users between March 2021 and November 2021 by the Shift Project. The Company Wage Tracker provides a visual way to compare company’s wage distributions and corporate financials.

Working in the Service Sector in Colorado

This research brief is part of a series designed to advance our understanding of working conditions in the service sector—in particular, schedule instability and unpredictability—in cities and states across the country.
Woman wearing face mask using digital tablet to control supermarket's inventory

Still Unstable: The Persistence of Schedule Uncertainty During the Pandemic

Unstable and unpredictable work schedules continue to be the norm for service sector workers - especially for workers of color, and for women of color in particular.
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