WTNH News 8 - April 27, 2015, by Kent Pierce - Once you hit adulthood, life becomes a balance between your personal life and work. But, for people who deal with a constantly changing schedule, having a life outside of work can be tough.

Which is why lawmakers and advocates are stepping up and calling for a “fair work week.” They’re joining forces with the people who deal with unpredictable schedules to make that happen.

Connecticut may be the wealthiest state in the nation, but for every Greenwich millionaire, there are a lot of other folks getting by on hourly wages. That’s not necessarily bad. What this report says is bad for workers is the way some employers schedule their hourly workers.

The Center for Popular Democracy says, nationwide, 3 out of 5 Americans are hourly workers. In Connecticut, 885,000 people are hourly workers. That’s about 57 percent of the workforce, and about a third, 300,000, get very little notice about what hours they have to work.

That’s very tough for anyone with family or childcare responsibilities, or for workers trying to better themselves by taking some college classes, or anyone who works two jobs to support a family. There are some organizations working to get some policies in place to force employers to structure their schedules differently and give workers some notice.

Some employers, like retail chains, say they depend on last-minute scheduling to deal with sick calls or busy shopping days, and they can’t afford to pay workers to come in when they’re not really needed.

This report will be released in Hartford Monday morning at a press conference with some of those workers, some of the organizations, and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro.

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