Mr. Justin Time Sets a Cruel Work Schedule

Mr. Justin Time Sets a Cruel Work Schedule

From Optimist Economy by Kathryn Anne Edwards and Robin Rauzi

July 21, 2026 · 49 min · Season 2 · Episode 26

About this episode

The episode discusses the implications of just-in-time scheduling on workers' income stability and morale, advocating for fair workweek laws.

Just-in-time scheduling lets an algorithm decide when — and whether — millions of people work. Surveys find 40% of shift workers (mostly in retail and food service) don’t know their schedule a week in advance. They can also get sent home mid-shift or asked to be on call, unpaid. Studies show that more than 50% of hourly workers’ income swings up to 30% month-to-month, making it hard to budget for rent, qualify for benefits, or plan. A landmark study done at The Gap a decade ago proved stable schedules boost not only morale, but sales, so this isn't even bad for business. We already have fair workweek laws in many big cities, but this is a no-brainer for an update to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Chapters : 1:01 Announcements — Review shoutouts, Benevity donor thanks. 2:15 Retcon — July 4th recap, AI job-loss predictions walked back. 7:29 Terms & Conditions — Just In Time scheduling and clopening. 10:21 The Big Pilcrow: Underwork — Why part-time and shift workers get scheduled unfairly. 13:50 How the BLS tracks part-time hours by industry. 17:05 Economic vs. non-economic part-time reasons. 25:05 The Gap Study — Predictive scheduling boosted sales 7%. 28:22 Consequences…

People in this episode

Hosts: Kathryn Anne Edwards, Robin Rauzi

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Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Gap, Benevity, WaPo

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