Oregon Scheduling Requirements for Retail, Hospitality, and Foodservice Employees

Background on Act:

Oregon recently passed legislation on scheduling practices for retail, hospitality, and foodservice employees addressing the following topics:

• Advance Notice of Work Schedules
• Voluntary Standby List
• Minimum Rest Period Between Shifts
• Employee Requests for Flexible Schedules
• Premium Pay for Schedule Changes
• Required Notices and Postings
• Records Retention
• Local Preemption

These requirements will be effective as of July 2018 and enforced starting January 2019.

Details of the Change:

The legislation has several components and applies to:

• All non-salaried employees who work for retailers, hospitality or foodservice establishments with 500+ employees globally (including chain and franchise locations).

Advance Notice of Work Schedules

Before or at the time of hire, employers must provide a good faith estimate of an employee’s work schedule in the language the employer normally uses to communicate with the employee that includes:

• the median number of hours the employee can expect to work in an average month
• notice of the employer’s voluntary standby list
• whether employees not on the voluntary standby list can expect to work on-call shifts, along with an objective standard of when the employee may expect to be available to work on-call shifts

Good faith estimates can be based on a prior year’s schedule if it reflects expected seasonal or episodic work.

From July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2020, employers must provide employees with a written work schedule at least 7 calendar days before the first day of the work schedule that includes all regular and on-call shifts the employee can expect to work during the scheduled period. Starting July 1, 2020, employers must provide 14 calendar days’ advance notice of work schedules. Schedules must be posted in an accessible location, in English and any other language the employer typically uses to communicate with employees. Before or at the time of an employee’s first day of work or return from a leave of absence, employers must provide new employees with an initial schedule that runs through the date that the next schedule for existing employees is posted or distributed.

Voluntary Standby List

Employers may maintain a standby list of employees they can use to send requests for additional work hours as long as employee participation on the list is voluntary and employees give their consent to be added to it in writing.

Employers must notify employees of the following:

• That the list is voluntary
• That they may request to remove themselves from the list at any time
• How they will notify employees of additional hours and the process for accepting them
• That they are not required to accept additional hours
• That accepting additional hours does not entitle the employee to premium pay for schedule changes

Employers may notify employees on the voluntary standby list of additional work hours via an in-person conversation, telephone call, electronic mail, text message, or other electronic or written format.

Minimum Rest Period Between Shifts

Employers must allow employees to decline work hours that occur less than 10-hours after:

• The end of the previous day’s shift, or
• The end of a shift that spans 2 calendar days

If an employee actually works within the 10-hour window, the employer must pay the employee at 1.5 times his or her regular rate of pay for all time worked within the window. Premium pay is not required for employees who work during the 10-hour window to provide roadside assistance services.

Employee Requests for Flexible Schedules

Employers must allow employees to request schedule modifications at time of hire and during employment, including (but not limited to):

• Additional hours/shifts
• Limitations or changes in the employee’s work schedule availability
• Not to be scheduled during certain times or at certain locations

Employers may require reasonable verification of the need for employee schedule changes. If the employer desires medical verification, it must pay reasonable costs for providing it.

Employers are required to consider (not necessarily approve) employee requests for schedule changes. They may choose to honor all or part of the employee’s requested changes, or deny them.

Premium Pay for Schedule Changes

If an employer changes an employee’s schedule after it has been posted, it must:

• Notify the employee of employer-initiated changes to his or her work schedule by in-person conversation, telephone call, email, text message, or other electronic communication
• Allow the employee to decline to work additional time, or

Pay the employee a premium for each change, in addition to pay for time worked, according to the following chart:

Premium pay is not required if:

• The employer changes an employee’s work schedule by 30 minutes or less
• The employee initiated the schedule change
• Employees trade shifts with one another
• The employee accepts a voluntary offer of additional work hours in writing
• The employer subtracts hours from an employee’s work schedule for documented disciplinary reasons for just cause
• an employer cannot continue business operations due to an emergency or because a ticketed event is cancelled
• The employer requests employees work additional hours to address unanticipated customer needs or unexpected employee absences, or has contacted all available employees on the voluntary standby list and still requires additional coverage
• The employer requests additional coverage in-person during a shift an employee is already working
• The employer requests additional coverage via a group communication

Required Notices and Postings

Employers must post a required poster from the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) detailing employees’ rights in:

• English
• An accessible area of the worksite or, if that is not feasible, through individual, accessible electronic means

Records Retention

• Employers must retain all required documentation for 3 years

Local Preemption

• Oregon local governments may not create additional scheduling requirements for private sector employees. Local governments may set work schedule requirements for public employees and in specifications for public contracts or subcontracts.

General Impact to Employers:

The coverage requirements related to business size require complex analysis not summarized in this fact sheet. Customers are responsible for informing Ceridian if they have employees subject to these requirements. 

The advance notice of schedules requirement changes from 7 calendar days advance notice to 14 calendar days as of June 30, 2020. Customers implemented prior to the cutover date may need to reconfigure their instances at that time to remain compliant with the requirement. 

The above requirements can vary for employees working under valid collective bargaining agreements, for public agencies, or under government contracts or subcontracts. The requirements include carveouts for employees working at ticketed events and those who deliver roadside assistance services. Customers are responsible for understanding these requirements and modifying their environments to accommodate these employees.

For More Information:

For further insights into this Act, view the following links:

• Oregon Senate Bill 828

(Regulations are likely to follow before the effective date.)