On August 8th, 2017, Oregon governor Kate Brown signed the Oregon Predictive Scheduling Law which went took effect in July of 2018. The legislation was updated in 2020, with an extended notice period of 14 days as opposed to seven days. Oregon’s Predictive Scheduling Law is meant to protect employees against last-minute scheduling changes that could negatively impact their income.
While the Oregon Predictive Scheduling Law applies to all employees in the state that work at companies in the retail, hospitality, or food services industries with 500 or more employees. Predictive scheduling was created with the primary intention of giving employees who need to care for children or other family members a chance to allocate their time appropriately, without sacrificing shifts and the opportunity to work.
Employers must display an Oregon Predictive Scheduling Labor Law Poster that gives notice of the employee's rights and responsibilities as a result of the predictive scheduling law in an easily visible and accessible location at every workplace.
Predictive scheduling in Oregon is a complicated compliance task, and one made much easier by an Oregon Scheduling Software Solution, which can help ensure compliance while controlling labor costs and maintaining productivity. If you are struggling with compliance, now may also be the best time to switch payroll providers.
As a result of recent Oregon Labor Law Updates from July 2024, as of July 1st, 2024, a new exception for short-notice schedule changes due to Paid Leave Oregon, OFLA, and related leave types has been added.
When an employer has less than 14 days’ notice of a change due to an employee starting or returning from protected leave, the employer no longer owes predictive scheduling pay to the employee covering the shifts of the absent employee.
When it comes to predictive scheduling in Oregon, there are some requirements that employers should be aware of.
As of July 1st, 2020, employers must provide a written work schedule to their employees 14 days in advance of the first day included in the schedule, according to predictive scheduling law.
The written work schedule must be displayed in an easily visible and accessible location, at every location owned by the business or company and where work is performed. It also must include all regular work shifts, as well as any on-call shifts.
Employees may decline shifts that are not included in the written work schedule.
Employers must pay employees one additional hour at the regular hourly rate of pay, in addition to any wages earned during the shift when:
Example of Predictive Scheduling Penalty: If an employee works an eight-hour shift, at $10 an hour, but one of the above conditions is broken, the employee would earn $90 for the shift as opposed to $80. If any employee works more than an additional 30 minutes in a shift, they would receive 80$, plus regular compensation for the additional time, plus an extra $10 on top of that.
Employers must pay employees half their regular rate of pay, per hour, for each scheduled hour that an employee does not work when:
Example of Predictive Scheduling Penalty: An employee, who makes $10 per hour, reports to work and finds out their shift has been cut from eight to six hours, they would receive $70 for the shift as opposed to $60 ($60 for the hours worked, and $5 for each hour they didn’t).
Employers should keep the above requirements in mind when terminating employees as well, so that way final paychecks in Oregon are paid out appropriately, especially since termination, or rather the pondering before hand, can lead to some of the aforementioned scenarios.
It's important to avoid any penalties for non-compliance, as such penalties can lead to higher labor costs, and a more strenuous task when processing payroll in Oregon. Employers should ensure they understand Oregon Minimum Wage Law as well, so that they can properly pay employees.
If an employer has to make a schedule change due to an employee starting or returning from Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA) or Paid Leave Oregon leave and is given less than 14 days notice of the need to make a change, the employer no longer owes predictive scheduling pay to the employee covering the shifts of the absent employee. This goes for whether that employee must cover a new shift, or is losing out on the shift.
Employers may maintain a voluntary standby list of employees who are willing to work additional hours due to unanticipated customer needs or unexpected absences. Employees must request or agree in writing to be on the list in accordance with predictive scheduling law.
Employers must also notify each employee in writing:
The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries has put together a voluntary standby list template that you can access here.
Employees are allowed to identify any changes that they would like to make to their work schedule. They are also allowed to identify any limitations to their availability in their work schedule.
While it is illegal for employers to retaliate against employees for these types of requests, they are under no obligation to approve the request.
Disapproval of the request is not considered retaliation against an employee.
Unless requested by, or approved by the employee, an employer may not schedule a worker to work during the first ten hours following the end of a previous shift. Whether the shift is a standard work shift or an on-call shift.
No matter what, if an employee is scheduled for a back-to-back shift within ten hours of their previous shift, they must be compensated at time-and-a-half their normal pay rate.
Employers are required to provide new employees with a written “good faith estimate” of the work schedule.
The “good faith estimate” must include:
Employees can make a complaint here if they believe their employer is violating this law. If you need more information or have any questions regarding predictive scheduling, you can contact the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI), here.
BOLI also has an employee predictive scheduling FAQ as well as an employer predictive scheduling FAQ.
For more information on Oregon labor laws, you can click here.
Complying with laws, such as the Oregon Predictive Scheduling Law, can be time-consuming for your business. With GNSA’s cloud-based automated time & labor management solution, it’s never been easier. Let GNSA help you with predictive scheduling, so you can get back to what makes your business tick.