Harmful Scheduling Bill is in the Cards Again for Oregon Small Businesses

Date: March 15, 2017

“Predictive scheduling” has been an issue for Oregon small businesses in the past, but it’s back on the table again, according to Bullard Law.

Senate Bill 828 and its companion, House Bill 2193, involve several provisions that would burden small businesses, including:

  • Employers being required to pay a worker for at least four hours if a shift is shortened or canceled;
  • Employers being required to provide  employees with two-week notice for their work schedule and being prohibited from retaliating against a worker who asks for a different schedule;
  • Employers being required to keep compliance records for three years.

“The bill utterly fails to acknowledge that businesses must control their costs,” says NFIB/OR State Director Anthony K. Smith. “Without the flexibility for small business owners and managers to adjust labor costs based on actual sales and customer needs, it’s going to be incredibly difficult to stay profitable.”

Smith says one of the main concerns of the bill is that it places franchisees under the same regulatory mandates as larger corporations.

“We have small business members who are franchisees. The large employer provisions of the bill lump those small businesses in with big corporations if their franchisor has 100 or more employees in the United States and 25 or more employees in the Oregon.”

Also concerning for all employers is the recordkeeping provision, Smith says.

“The bill would give anyone who was subject to any of the provisions in this new law a cause of action, which means businesses would have to keep meticulous records on a countless number of workplace shift changes—and always be ready to go to court,” he says.

Ninety-two percent of NFIB members strongly oppose this legislative concept, according to Smith. Another opponent is the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association.

“We think they fail to take into account some of the factors that are really beyond the restaurant owner’s or lodging owner’s control,” said Greg Astley, director of government affairs for the association.

Senate Bill 828 had its first hearing Feb. 27, and House Bill 2193 had its first hearing March 6.

Related Content: Small Business News | Economy | Labor | Oregon

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