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Underwork, Work-Hour Insecurity, and A New Approach to Wage and Hour Regulation

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  • Charlotte Alexander
  • Anna Haley-Lock

Abstract

type="main" xml:id="irel12111-abs-0001"> When it was passed in 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sought to address the “evils” of underpay and overwork by establishing an hourly minimum wage and requiring premium overtime pay. However, today's low-wage, hourly workers more often face underwork than overwork, as well as fluctuating, unstable schedules, neither of which is addressed by the FLSA. This paper presents and assesses the effectiveness of an alternative approach to wage and hour regulation, the “reporting pay” guarantee. We begin by examining the problem of work-hour insecurity, particularly employers’ practice of sending workers home early from scheduled shifts. We then move to a detailed assessment of state laws that require reporting pay, as well as reporting pay guarantees in union contracts and private-employer practices that attempt to address the problem of work-hour insecurity. We conclude by considering paths for strengthening such protections in law.

Suggested Citation

  • Charlotte Alexander & Anna Haley-Lock, 2015. "Underwork, Work-Hour Insecurity, and A New Approach to Wage and Hour Regulation," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 695-716, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:indres:v:54:y:2015:i:4:p:695-716
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/irel.2015.54.issue-4
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    Cited by:

    1. Ryan Finnigan & Jo Mhairi Hale, 2017. "Working 9 to 5? Unionization and work variability, 2004-2013," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2017-002, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    2. Noemi Mantovan & Robert M. Sauer & John Wilson, 2022. "The effect of work‐schedule control on volunteering among early career employees," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 60(3), pages 536-562, September.

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