Working Anything but 9 to 5 - NYTimes · Working Anything but 9 to 5 - NYTimes.com 8/14/14 12:45 PM...

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Working Anything but 9 to 5Scheduling Technology Leaves Low-Income Parents With Hours of Chaos

By JODI KANTOR, Photographs by SAM HODGSON

AUGUST 13, 2014

In a typical last-minute scramble, Jannette Navarro, a 22-year-old Starbucksbarista and single mother, scraped together a plan for surviving the month ofJuly without setting off family or financial disaster.

In contrast to the joyless work she had done at a Dollar Tree store and a KFCfranchise, the $9-an-hour Starbucks job gave Ms. Navarro, the daughter of adrug addict and an absentee father, the hope of forward motion. She had beenhired because she showed up so many times, cheerful and persistent, asking



for work, and she had a way of flicking away setbacks — such as a missed buson her three-hour commute — with the phrase, “I’m over it.”

Jannette Navarro at Starbucks.

Newly off public assistance, she was just a few credits shy of an associatedegree in business and talked of getting a master’s degree as some of her co-workers were. Her take-home pay rarely topped $400 to $500 every twoweeks; since starting in November, she had set aside $900 toward a car — hernext step toward stability and independence for herself and her 4-year-old son,Gavin.

But Ms. Navarro’s fluctuating hours, combined with her limited resources, hadalso turned their lives into a chronic crisis over the clock. She rarely learnedher schedule more than three days before the start of a workweek, plunging herinto urgent logistical puzzles over who would watch the boy. Months afterstarting the job she moved out of her aunt’s home, in part because of mountingfriction over the erratic schedule, which the aunt felt was also holding herfamily captive. Ms. Navarro’s degree was on indefinite pause because hershifting hours left her unable to commit to classes. She needed to work all shecould, sometimes counting on dimes from the tip jar to make the bus farehome. If she dared ask for more stable hours, she feared, she would get fewerwork hours over all.

“You’re waiting on your job to control your life,” she said, with the schedulingsoftware used by her employer dictating everything from “how much sleep



Gavin will get to what groceries I’ll be able to buy this month.”

Last month, she was scheduled to work until 11 p.m. on Friday, July 4; reportagain just hours later, at 4 a.m. on Saturday; and start again at 5 a.m. onSunday. She braced herself to ask her aunt, Karina Rivera, to watch Gavin,hoping she would not explode in annoyance, or worse, refuse. She vowed tosomehow practice for the driving test that she had promised her boyfriend shewould pass by the previous month. To stay awake, she would formulate herown behind-the-counter coffee concoctions, pumping in extra shots ofespresso.

A sign with a missed deadline hanging in the kitchen.

Scheduling Chaos

Like increasing numbers of low-income mothers and fathers, Ms. Navarro is atthe center of a new collision that pits sophisticated workplace technologyagainst some fundamental requirements of parenting, with particularly harshconsequences for poor single mothers. Along with virtually every major retailand restaurant chain, Starbucks relies on software that choreographs workersin precise, intricate ballets, using sales patterns and other data to determinewhich of its 130,000 baristas are needed in its thousands of locations andexactly when. Big-box retailers or mall clothing chains are now capable ofbringing in more hands in anticipation of a delivery truck pulling in or theweather changing, and sending workers home when real-time analyses showsales are slowing. Managers are often compensated based on the efficiency of



their staffing.

Scheduling is now a powerful tool to bolster profits, allowing businesses to cutlabor costs with a few keystrokes. “It’s like magic,” said Charles DeWitt, vicepresident for business development at Kronos, which supplies the software forStarbucks and many other chains.

Yet those advances are injecting turbulence into parents’ routines and personalrelationships, undermining efforts to expand preschool access, driving somemothers out of the work force and redistributing some of the uncertainty ofdoing business from corporations to families, say parents, child care providersand policy experts.

In Brooklyn, Sandianna Irvine often works “on call” hours at Ashley Stewart,a plus-size clothing store, rushing to make arrangements for her 5-year-olddaughter if the store needs her. Before Martha Cadenas was promoted tomanager at a Walmart in Apple Valley, Minn., she had to work any time thestore needed; her mother “ended up having to move in with me,” she said,because of the unpredictable hours. Maria Trisler is often dismissed early fromher shifts at a McDonald’s in Peoria, Ill., when the computers say sales areslow. The same sometimes happens to Ms. Navarro at Starbucks.

By Saturday afternoon of the Fourth of July weekend, Ms. Navarro had madeit through “clopening,” closing late at night and opening again just a few hourslater. But she had not yet worked up the courage to ask Ms. Rivera and Ms.Rivera’s boyfriend, Oscar Nuñez, for help the next day with Gavin.

Gavin with Oscar Nuñez.



The couple had repeatedly given her safe harbor over the years: when Ms.Navarro’s mother abandoned her at the age of 17, and then died of anoverdose; when Gavin’s father disappeared without paying child support. Butsince Ms. Navarro started at Starbucks, her job had often spilled over into thelives of Ms. Rivera and Mr. Nuñez so that they had trouble juggling their ownjobs — Ms. Rivera’s as a dental assistant and his as a mechanic — or makingplans with their two toddlers. “It puts a strain on the whole household, on myrelationship with Karina,” said Mr. Nuñez, 38.

Weekends, when Gavin’s day care center is closed, were particularly charged;on top of that, the couple disapproved of Ms. Navarro’s boyfriend, NickMartinez. The tension culminated one night last winter, with all four adultsscreaming at one another on the front lawn. After that encounter, Ms. Navarromoved in with Mr. Martinez, 22. But months later, she still depended on heraunt for help, and Gavin tended to cling to the couple, crying and asking tostay at their house.

“You’re not working tomorrow, are you?” Ms. Rivera finally asked. She hadalready watched Gavin all of Saturday morning, she had made beach plans forSunday, and when she heard the answer she grew exasperated. “We can’t evendo our own thing,” she told Ms. Navarro, who felt guilty and then surprised:Her aunt folded, saying she would take Gavin again.

With the crisis averted, Ms. Navarro reported to work before dawn the nextmorning, napping on the sidewalk for a few minutes before it was time for herto open the store.

Two days later, on July 8, she had to tug her son out of bed just as early,rousing Gavin before 5 a.m. for their long commute. But this time herboyfriend, Mr. Martinez, helped her get ready for the day. He had been asupportive force, inviting her and Gavin to share the bedroom he had in hissister’s apartment, enjoying moments of surrogate fatherhood with the littleboy.



Ms. Navarro's boyfriend, Nick Martinez.

In turn, Ms. Navarro had helped Mr. Martinez get a job at her Starbucks store,and together they had become a team, both poor but pooling their resources toget ahead.

Ms. Navarro hated waking Gavin so early, but the trip from home to day careto work took a mile-long walk, two trolleys, a bus ride and over three hours.



Ms. Navarro's three-hour commute to day care and then work.

At the day care center, her scattered schedule created a perpetual blizzard ofpaperwork, with Ms. Navarro documenting her ever-changing hours, lest shelose the precious placement. She knew Gavin was fortunate to attend apreschool with live hermit crabs and Play-Doh sea urchins. Many other parentswith unstable work schedules rely on ragtag coverage, paying neighbors orrelatives small sums to watch their children.

Child care and policy experts worry that the entire apparatus for helping poorfamilies is being strained by unpredictable work schedules, preventing parentsfrom committing to regular drop-off times or answering standard questions onsubsidy forms and applications for aid: “How many hours do you work?” and“What do you earn?”

“Some families drop their kids at 7:30 and then come back at 10:30 sayingthere was no more work for the day,” said Patricia Smith, director of the Jeffand Deni Jacobs Child Development Center, the government-funded day careGavin attends.



Gavin at day care.

Once Gavin was settled at the day care center, Ms. Navarro raced onto anotherbus, panicked when it skipped her stop, got off and ran back to Starbucks, andwalked in 10 minutes late.

Her co-workers asked her how she was, pointedly but not unkindly. Throughthe grapevine, they had heard the news that Ms. Navarro was struggling toaccept: Mr. Martinez was breaking up with her, and she and Gavin would loseanother home.

Mr. Martinez had told her the evening before, explaining that he had beenfeeling too weighed down and that he could not do what he wanted — go backto school and get a better job — amid the whirl of Ms. Navarro’s last-minutelogistics. “I bit off more than I could chew,” he said later.

Her failure to find time to practice driving and get her license had sealed hisdecision: The deadline on the refrigerator had been his final one, and she hadmissed it. With no child of his own, he did not feel as stymied by the shiftinghours as she did, and he blamed Ms. Navarro for failing to move ahead fastenough. “If you want something badly enough, you’ll get it done,” he told her.

She had spent the night on the couch, sobbing, panicking, envisioning howevery bit of her hard-won progress could disappear. She and Gavin wouldhave no place to live. He could be kicked out of day care for having no homeaddress. With no day care, she would not be able to work.

“Things were finally starting to come into order,” she said, thinking back to



how the month had started. She had believed in Mr. Martinez, in her ownmomentum, in her ability to put together the basic pieces of a life.

“I just want to be able to live happily and comfortably,” she explained in a textmessage afterward.

Tuesday evening, the three shared a final dinner, Ms. Navarro visiblytrembling with anxiety and anger.

Gavin had no idea he was about to lose his second home in six months, or theman who had been treating him like a son. “What’s the drink I like to get?”Mr. Martinez asked Gavin on the way back from dinner. “Venti soy mocha!”said the small voice.

Dinner the day after Mr. Martinez broke up with Ms. Navarro.

Not Alone

Ms. Navarro’s erratic hours had not caused the crisis, but their effects hadradiated outward, eroding nearly all of her plans and relationships.

Andrew Alfano, a senior vice president of retail at Starbucks, said that anexperience like Ms. Navarro’s was an anomaly, and that the companyprovided at least a week’s notice of work hours, as well as stable schedules foremployees who want them. However, in interviews with current and recentworkers at 17 Starbucks outlets around the country, only two said theyreceived a week’s notice of their hours; some got as little as one day.



“If for some reason we haven’t lived up to what we aspire to, it’s reallydisappointing,” Mr. Alfano said. “We want to know about it, we want to fixit.” Another spokesman said the company would reiterate its schedulingpolicies to managers across the country.

Like many employers, Starbucks also says that its variable hours can be a plus,adding that the coffee chain provides benefits — like health care, 401(k)matching, stock and tuition for online degrees — that many retailers do not.(Ms. Navarro said she was three classes shy of being able to transfer and takeadvantage of the tuition offer.)

But flexibility — an alluring word for white-collar workers, who may desire,say, working from home one day a week — can have a darker meaning formany low-income workers as a euphemism for unstable hours or paychecks.Legislators and activists are now promoting proposals and laws to mitigate thescheduling problems. But those who manufacture and study schedulingsoftware, including Mr. DeWitt of Kronos, advocate a more direct solution: foremployers and managers to use the software to build in schedules with moreaccommodating core hours.

“The same technology could be used to create more stability andpredictability,” said Zeynep Ton, a professor at M.I.T. who studies retailoperations.

Ms. Navarro turned out to be a case in point.

By August, she and Gavin were staying on an air mattress at the home of aformer co-worker, with occasional nights at her aunt’s house, and no ideawhere they would go next. Gavin was crying more than usual, exhausted andunsure of where Mr. Martinez had gone. Over the past month she haddowngraded her ambitions; the best she now hoped for was to be promoted toshift supervisor. The only happy news was that she had somehow passed herdriving test.



A Push to GiveSteadier Shiftsto Part-Timers

RELATED COVERAGE

Mr. Nuñez consoles Gavin, who is upset to leave, and Ms. Navarro gets ready to take Gavin to stay at her friend's.

Then her wallet was stolen, leaving her without even a buspass. Ms. Navarro was so desperate that she finally threwherself on her manager’s mercy, taking her into the backroom to explain the misery of her situation and plead formore and better hours. “I need the full 40,” she said, slumpedon the floor because she was too tired to stand.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/16/business/a-push-to-give-steadier-shifts-to-part-timers.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/28/business/a-part-time-life-as-hours-shrink-and-shift-for-american-workers.html



Name Location

Employer Email

YOUR PERSPECTIVE

Does your workplace use automated scheduling? How has it affected your job,your company, or your life outside work? Are there other workplace practicesthat you would like to bring to our attention? I look forward to hearing yourresponses, which may inform future reporting on this topic. — Jodi Kantor,reporter

Please choose the category that best describes your role:

Hourly worker Owner or supervisor Other

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Once submitted, this information may be viewed by the other readers of NYTimes.com. Comments are moderatedand generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive. Your contact information will not be published.Comments FAQ »

JULY. 15, 2014

A Part-TimeLife, as HoursShrink and ShiftOCT. 27, 2012

Later, asked by a reporter about Ms. Navarro’s situation, aStarbucks spokesman said the company would work tostabilize her schedule.

Even before then, Ms. Navarro’s manager was taking a closerlook at her hours. A few days after their discussion, a newschedule appeared. Ms. Navarro would still have to arrivebefore dawn on the weekend. But she would now worknearly 40 hours a week, which happened rarely before. Andfor three precious weekdays, her job at Starbucks, her job as a mother and theday care schedule would be in alignment: She would start around 8 in themorning and finish around 4.

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READERS’ PERSPECTIVES

Share your stories about the issues raised in this article.99 READER RESPONSES

All Hourly workers Owners and supervisors

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Starbucks employee Anywhere,USA Starbucks Parent

Starbucks doesn't "give" you insurance, we PAY for it and it takes 50% of

our pay check. As an 8 year employee I take home $200 for a 40 hour work

week after taxes and insurance. I couldn't afford to work there if I had to pay

for childcare. I would have to chose no insurance just to survive. Everyone

criticizes Walmart and McDonalds regarding their poor pay; Starbucks is

among the worst. It's all about cutting labor and forcing two people to do the

work of three. Have to satisfy the stockholders!

Cathleen Merenda, Directot Westbury NY

Westbury Memorial Public library

We do not use automated scheduling. Workers have the same schedule

each week. We modify schedules as needed, for example, coworkers will

step up and cover an evening if someone is out sick or has personal leave.

Everyone works as a team, helping each other out with their schedules. We

want staff to feel that their work life is under control so they can have a high

functioning home life. A stable and happy home life makes for high

performance in the work place.

Kelly Rosenleaf MIssoula MT Child Care Resources

Ms. Navarro's story is a painfully common occurance in entry level jobs,

particularly retail, hospitality and home health. As the director of an agency

that administers child care subsidies, I concur that this situation makes

arranging child care nearly impossible. When children do not get off to a

good start, the rest of the story of their lives can be grim. Surely establishing

set schedules can not be that difficult.

Stevie NYC

How is it that a country that uses family values as their main frame allow for

buisnesses to get away with this practice. Everyone deserves just and fair

scheduling, esp low wage workers who are trying to take care of their

families. Are we losing our sense as a country. Remember Ford Motor

companies, in the early years, he allowed for his workers to be able to afford

time and money to support his families. America's corporate reputation is

sinking....

yip NYC

I know we need wage increases for low and middle income workers, but on

the flip side I get tired of hearing about people who don't seem to know the

word 'planning'. I realize some pregnancies are a total surprise but many

others are 'sort of a surprise' or subconsciously desired. I wouldn't buy a

house if I didn't have the money, so why do so many thinking nothing of

bringing a child into the world when they haven't a clue how they are going

to support them, and/or the mother already finds herself in a compromised

situation?

JJ sacramento n/a

11th then 5 am the manager should have fixed that and yes he can fix that I

bet the manager would not work that shift. Yes my work does a

automatically generated schedule but we can fix all the mistakes.

Srini Tyler Other



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Starbucks could be a better employer. But, Ms. Navarro made bad

decisions. She should have known that a baby at 18 would turn her world

upside down and shut the door on any higher education. Many teenagers

think that the gene pool is in desperate need of their genes. And, when they

are poor with no education, expect the world to save them. Those who resist

the temptations of youth are doing the right thing. Ms. Navarro will likely

perpetuate the problem - Gavin, with poor parenting, will end up

impregnating someone at 18 - so the cycle goes.

mary ny retail Parent

my schedule is barely posted a week in advance and is always subject to

change. I have been sent home from work when it is slow. I barely get 30

hours a week and yet my manager is hiring new people. my children are in

college and it's hard not knowing if I will be able to put food on the table

from day to day. working clopens and nights and then being scheduled for

early am shifts and having no consistent work schedule is like living in

chaos. I never have a steady sleep schedule.

Anna Manhattan N/A (fear)

So glad you're covering this---a hidden iceberg in our midst. My 22-year old

daughter has worked in big box retail and restaurants in NYC for the past

three years, almost never getting her schedule more than a day ahead of

time. They all use this software now and send people home if things get

slow. No benefits, no overtime. A scandal that wreaks havoc even with her

life as a single young woman trying to go to school. She feels she can't say

no or she will drop to the bottom of their list or worse, be fired.

Phil California

Your article is well-characterized, objective, honest and commendable.

Alfano's slimy corporate euphemistic double-speak, “If for some reason we

haven’t lived up to what we aspire to, it’s really disappointing,” is insulting

and deceitful. I urge you to write more human interest profiles. You nailed it.

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