The Oregon Legislature passed the nation’s first Fair Work Week bill in 2017. The law provides schedule predictability for employees in the food service, hospitality, and retail industries.
The law has been slowly phasing in since then. But on July 15, all of the law’s provisions will be in effect. Starting that day, employers with at least 500 employees worldwide must give their Oregon employees written work schedules 14 days before the start of the work week. The law also requires employers to provide new hires with a written good faith estimate of their work schedule; schedule at least a 10-hour break between shifts; pay extra for unplanned schedule changes; and give workers the right to express scheduling preference with no retribution.
The law affects not only union members, but hundreds of thousands of people across Oregon.
“It was a quality-of-life game-changer for so many who had been unable to reliably plan things like doctor’s appointments and family outings,” said Dan Clay, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555, which help champion the bill.
