Dive Brief:

• Wal-Mart Stores Inc. continues its improvements to stores with a roll-out of scheduling changes for workers that have been in pilot for two years.

• The changes include more fixed schedules that guarantee hours for up to a year, flexible shifts, and the ability to choose schedules from available hours. They have already helped the retailer trim costs by reducing absenteeism by 11% and turnover by 14%.

• The changes are also a reflection of the current movement, in some cases by city and state law, to tamp down the retail practice of “just in time” scheduling, which requires workers to be on call. These situations interfere with workers' ability to manage lives and make enough money, according to advocacy groups.

Dive Insight:

Wal-Mart is working hard to improve its stores and these improvements, though they add to its bottom line in the short term, are helping the company bring in and retain workers. That in turn is helping reduce absenteeism and turnover, which are expensive because a retailer must spend time and money hiring and training workers.

It could also help Wal-Mart improve its reputation as place that is unfair to its employees, which could be a boon to its efforts to appeal to the wealthier, more urban customer. These customers often look askance at companies known for being unfair to employees, sometimes choosing instead to spend their money at retailers that are transparent with their treatment of workers. 

But the moves don’t go far enough, according to the worker advocates who have been angling for such changes for years, 

"For workers who have been speaking out, protesting, and fasting for $15 and full-time hours, today’s announcement represents a hard-won victory, but without increased pay or additional hours, it falls short of what most associates need to support their families, and or what is needed to improve customer service," the labor group OUR Walmart said in a statement.