"I'm sure some stores are not very liberal about that. "I'm very liberal about that," the manager said. The Lowe's manager who asked that their location not be published added that their "hands are very much on every single one of these schedules," to ensure that their team isn't unhappy with their schedules. A current employee in Florida told Business Insider that by the time an employee is on their seventh or eighth day of work, they're often "starting to make mistakes" they don't typically make because "they're tired" and "can't concentrate." These recent changes have also brought about complaints that customer-centric scheduling is negatively affecting stores, workers said.įour employees told Business Insider that despite the new maximum of six consecutive workdays, they had been scheduled to work over six days in a row. "Everybody always says they wish corporate would work our schedules," a current employee from Texas told Business Insider. One current employee from Vermont said their schedule had improved - specifically thanks to the new policy of capping consecutive workdays at six - but that they could see why coworkers were upset to lose the "consistency" and "predictability" of the old system. Not everyone has been negatively affected by the changes, however. This stability was especially helpful when it came to scheduling medical appointments, vacations, and family time, a current employee in Louisiana told Business Insider. "You knew your schedule for the entire year. "You couldn't ask for a better schedule," a current Lowe's employee in Florida told Business Insider. The following week, employees would receive a Sunday and a Friday off, followed by Wednesday and Thursday, and then Monday and Tuesday. Under that system, full-time employees would typically get one weekend off every month, multiple workers said. The new scheduling model also provides a more consistent schedule for our full-time associates." 'They wish corporate would work our schedules'Įmployees told Business Insider that full-time store employees' schedules previously operated on a four-week rotation. This model is very similar to what other large retailers use and allows us to staff our stores tailored to customer needs. "We tested this model in multiple regions to gain feedback from associates and customers prior to rolling out to all stores. "We recently rolled out a new scheduling model that aligns associate shifts with store-specific customer demand patterns by time of day, day of week and department," a Lowe's representative told Business Insider. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.Sign up for Business Insider's retail newsletter, The Drive-Thru."The new scheduling model also provides a more consistent schedule for our full-time associates," the representative said in a statement.A Lowe's representative told Business Insider that the scheduling model "is very similar to what other large retailers use and allows us to staff our stores tailored to customer needs.".
Other workers took issue with recent changes to policies around clocking in and out. Employees said the new system gives them one weekend off every eight weeks and makes it harder to manage their lives outside work.Lowe's recently switched its scheduling system from a four-week rotation - which ensured that full-time workers would get one weekend off a month - to one known as "customer-centric scheduling.".Of those employees, 10 cited scheduling as a problem affecting morale. In October, Business Insider spoke with 17 current and former Lowe's workers in stores across the country about the issues facing them.Lowe's employees say the company's new scheduling policies are driving down morale.