SALEM – Oregon could become the first state in the nation to mandate work schedule predictability for certain food service, retail and hospitality workers, if a bill advanced by the Senate Thursday also passes the House.

The bill would help on-call employees, including many earning low wages, who can have shifts added or taken away at the last minute. It is among Democrats' top priority workplace policy bills this session, which also include an equal pay law signed into law earlier this month.

Similar to the Equal Pay Act, Senate Bill 828 passed by the Senate on Thursday was the result of work led by a bipartisan team: Sen. Kathleen Taylor, D-Portland, and Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend. Supporters on both sides of the aisle acknowledged they traveled a contentious path to the eventual compromise.

On the Senate floor Thursday, Taylor thanked Knopp "for helping to keep everyone at the table until we could come up with a compromise." The tone was in contrast to sniping in the Oregon House Thursday, after Democratic leaders announced they were giving up on an effort to overhaul corporate taxes and curb public pension costs this session.

"We heard from employees that due to unpredictable schedules, they had an extremely difficult time making plans to take care of basic needs, for example making doctor's appointments, planning child care, etcetera," Taylor said. "We also heard from those that testified that it is difficult to improve your life without a more predictable schedule, for example taking a class or securing an additional job."

The Senate passed the bill Thursday on a bipartisan vote of 23-6. The "no" votes were all cast by Republicans, but a half dozen Republicans also voted "yes."

In comments on the Senate floor, Knopp quoted Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, asking "What happens when we stop trying to beat the other person and start working toward a solution?" Knopp said that's what happened with the Fair Work Week Act. "We know a lot of workers have more than one job," Knopp said, and the bill would make it easier for those employees to keep those jobs and meet their families' needs. Knopp said an extension of the current preemption on local governments passing work scheduling laws also solidified his support for the bill.

Some cities, including Seattle, New York and San Francisco, have already passed laws regulating on-call worker scheduling, according to a press release from Senate Democrats. According to the caucus, the bill "is the product of numerous discussions between business and labor that began as a fairly contentious conversation that seemed to be at a roadblock. The groups came back together and hammered out a workable solution."

The Fair Work Week Act would set work scheduling standards for the largest retail, hospitality and food service employers – those with at least 500 employees worldwide. Starting in July 2018, those companies would have to give their Oregon employees written estimates of their work schedules seven days before the start of the work week. The notice requirement would increase to 14 days in July 2020.

The bill would set other requirements, too, including the right for employees to rest between shifts and receive extra pay if they're scheduled to work two shifts with less than a 10-hour break in between. Hannah Taube, spokeswoman for the Working Families Party, praised the measure on Thursday. The party worked with the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555 union and other interests to push for passage of the bill.

"Hard-working people deserve a fair work week," Taube said in a statement. "This legislation is a significant step forward in helping families plan for things like postsecondary education, health care needs, and management of their personal finances."

-- Hillary Borrud

503-294-4034; @hborrud