Eric Schneiderman, New York Attorney General, has questioned Gap, Target Corp and 11 other retailers about 'on-call shifts', a staffing practice under which workers are given just few hours to makes themselves available on short notice.

Schneiderman has sent the letter on Friday, where he said, "On-call systems leave too little time to make arrangements for family needs, let alone to find an alternative source of income to compensate for the lost pay on days the workers are not called in to work".

As per the letter, some of the employers require on-call workers to check by text messages, emails and by phone shortly before their shift. According to the Attorney General, the practices like on-call scheduling could violate employment law of New York. As per the state employment law, employees who report for a scheduled shift on any day should be paid for about four hours at the basic minimum hourly wage.

According to the attorney general, he has received some reports that a number of employees in New York, particularly in the retail industry, must work in on-call shifts, which need workers to check in a little as a few hours in advance to see if they are needed.

Apart from Gap and Target Corp, letters has been sent to retail companies such as Abercrombie & Fitch, L Brands Inc, J. Crew, TJX Cos, Crocs Inc, Burlington Coat Factory, Ann Inc, Urban Outfitters Inc, Williams-Sonoma Inc, Sears Holdings and JC Penney.

In the letter, Schneiderman has asked the retailers to provide details on the processes that they follow to plan on-call shifts. The Attorney General has asked whether the retail companies use computerized systems. Schneiderman also asked whether the companies penalize employees who do not follow the companies' on-call procedures.

While talking about the issue, a spokeswoman said Gap Inc is committed to establishing sustainable scheduling practices.