What you need to know about staying compliant
Shyft’s quick compliance kit for Oregon’s Fair Workweek laws is here! Following a number of other cities (New York, Seattle, San Francisco) that are enacting predictable scheduling laws, on July 1st, 2018, Oregon becomes the first state to put a law into effect. Oregon’s Fair Workweek laws apply to shift workers in the hospitality, food, or retail industries.
What are Oregon’s Fair Workweek Laws?
Oregon Senate Bill 828 – the Fair Work Week Act – was signed in June 2017, creating a new set of laws that govern businesses in the food industry (restaurants and fast food chains), retail industry, and hospitality industry. Workers in food service companies that provide to companies in the retail, hospitality, and food/ restaurant industry are also covered. The new laws are enforced by the Bureau of Labor and Industries.
The major points of the bill are below:
Good Faith Estimates
A Good Faith Estimate provides workers with a reasonably accurate idea of what hours they will work on a consistent basis. Having a good faith estimate lets workers plan their schedules; school, family life, other jobs, can all be planned for when a worker has a good idea of when they work and how much their paychecks should net them.
Good faith estimates in Oregon must also now detail how “on-call” shifts work for that business, and what criteria must be met for an employee to be called in.
Voluntary Standby Lists
While some cities have made putting employees “on-call,” Oregon allows employees to voluntarily offer to work more hours. This law gives employers some flexibility, as they don’t have to over-staff just in case extra business shows up or employees don’t show up. Of course, employees still get paid for these extra hours.
Advanced Notice of Shifts
An employer must give its employees their schedules at least seven days before the first day they are scheduled to work. On July 1, 2020 (two years after this bill goes into effect), that number increases to 14 days.
New employees must be given a written work schedule on (or before) their first day of work.
Right to Rest Between Shifts (“Clopenings”)
While our Overnight Compliance Manual gets into the nuance of this law, the general gist is that an employee must be given ten hours between scheduled shifts, unless they request otherwise. Failure to comply with this law requires the business to make premium payments to the employee.
Right to Give Input on Work Schedule
Before being hired, and during the course of their employment, an employee has the right to notify their employer of any limitations or changes in their work schedule availability. Employees may request that their schedules do not include shifts on certain days, at certain times, or at certain locations.
Employers, on the other hand, are under no obligation to grant their employees’ scheduling requests, but they may also not retaliate against employees for making requests.
Compensation Pay / Premium Pay for Schedule Changes
After an employee has been given their work schedule (7 days in advance), an employer may make changes to the employee’s schedule. However, premium payments must be made to the employee for any changes, and employees may reject the changes. If there are 7 or more calendar days until a shift, changes can be made to it without penalty.
Oregon Workplace Notices and Posting Requirements
Part of Oregon’s Fair Workweek Law requires that posters be put up in the workplace, notifying employees of their rights and responsibilities under the law.
