Apple Increases Work Scheduling Commitments for Retail Store Employees

ifoAppleStore reports that Apple will be adjusting its scheduling practices for retail store employees as of April 15th, placing greater weekend demands on its full-time workers and requiring greater weekly commitments from its part-time staff. The moves come as traffic at Apple stores continues to rise and the company seeks to bolster staff presence during the busiest times.

According to the report, while Apple has been requiring many of its full-time staff to work one of the two weekend days per week, the company is now redefining Friday as a weekend day and requiring Specialists, Creatives, and Geniuses to work two out of the three weekend days per week.

Soon, Apple will add Friday to its official list of “weekend days,” and full-timers must work two of those three days, or possibly a shift that includes both Saturday and Sunday. The changes will affect Family Room and Red Zone Specialists, Creatives and Geniuses, and seems to stem from a recognition of increased store traffic on Fridays.

For part-timers, Apple will be requiring a minimum weekly commitment of 24 hours, up from 16 hours. The change will potentially squeeze those workers who have multiple jobs or other commitments that led them to join the Apple store on a part-time basis in the first place.

The report suggests that Apple will be trying to do a better job of accommodating requests for time off, hoping to soften the blow of the increased commitments, but the company does realize that it may lose some of its staff, particularly part-time workers, due to the changes.