This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA.
Highland and Kaiser have a lot of things in common – one of them being weird scheduling. You may work two days one week, then three the next. Or every other day one week, but three days in a row the next. It’s a job just to keep track of your schedule!
This can make it hard to plan life events, because it can feel nearly impossible to know what days you’ll be working in a few months. And how are you supposed to get consistent childcare when your schedule changes weekly and many caregivers do not want to be subjected to that kind of variability?
It’s clear that managers care more about “plugging” workers into tight, “efficient” schedules than they do about creating positions that actually allow us to live stable, predictable lives. We are not machines!
