So far, state senators have not heard any public testimony on how the proposed measure could affect smaller operations, with fewer resources.įor now, the narrowly tailored bill appears to have a giant in its sights. Neither did the industry groups Food Northwest and the American Bakers Association.
Businesses including Dave’s Killer Bread in Milwaukie and Juanita’s Fine Foods in Hood River did not comment on those questions. It’s unclear how common it is for bakeries and tortilla factories in Oregon to discipline employees who refuse to work overtime. “Five days feels more reasonable than five minutes,” said Jess Giannettino Villatoro, political director of the Oregon AFL-CIO, which has championed the bill. “We believe,” she continued, “a 48-hour notice requirement would better meet the needs of employers and employees.”Ī forthcoming amendment to the bill is expected to require five days’ notice of mandatory overtime instead - a compromise that, at first glance, appeared acceptable to employer and labor groups.
“However, the two-week notice window required by SB 1513 does not recognize the workforce realities of businesses, which often must react quickly to unexpected staffing shortages.” “Employees of bakeries and tortilla makers deserve adequate notice of mandatory overtime,” Sparks said in a statement to OPB. At a recent public hearing, Paloma Sparks of Oregon Business & Industry pointed to the pandemic’s chronic worker shortages, as well as the acute disruption caused by the omicron variant of the coronavirus. At least one business group found that timeline impractical. The original bill called for employers to alert staff two weeks before a mandatory overtime shift. Under the bill, however, workers couldn’t be penalized for saying no to a last-minute overtime shift.
Kathleen Taylor, D-Milwaukie, told members of the Senate Committee on Labor and Business last month. “It’s not taking away mandatory overtime. The measure would prohibit those companies from disciplining employees who refuse mandatory overtime, unless workers have been given advance notice. Senate Bill 1513 would apply to about 300 bakeries and tortilla makers across the state, employing some 5,900 people, according to the Oregon Employment Department. But the law doesn’t say how much warning of mandatory overtime those employers need to give. Oregon law already addresses how much overtime manufacturers can require employees to work - and how much they should pay for it. Bill would outlaw penalties for refusing overtime without due notice Some employees, bolstered by their recent contract strike against Mondelez, which spread nationally, are now speaking out against an overtime system they say penalizes low-seniority workers with caregiving responsibilities.Īnd Oregon lawmakers are considering a union-backed bill to change the situation. "I was literally being disciplined for having kids," she said of the overtime penalty system. 1, 2022, has worked at the Portland Nabisco plant for 18 years. That leaves workers facing the prospect of losing their jobs if they have to leave at the end of their regularly scheduled shifts.ĭonna Marks, pictured on Feb. Eight points can get you fired, according to workers and their union, the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Local 364. Mondelez employees who refuse mandatory overtime get an attendance point. Mondelez did not respond to four requests for comment from OPB, by phone and email, over several days. The plant, owned by global food giant Mondelez International, makes quintessential American snacks: Oreos, Chips Ahoy! and Ritz Crackers. “They’ll call security and say, ‘Hey did Donna walk out yet?’” Marks said. “They’ve come running out to the car multiple times,” he said.ĭonna Marks, who has worked at the Nabisco plant for 18 years, said even the security guard has stopped her on the way out. Sometimes he makes it to the parking lot. Sometimes, Roos said, he makes it as far as the time clock before he’s forced into overtime. “Then, literally, eight minutes before it’s time to clock out, your supervisor will call you on the phone, or either come find you on the line, and tell you they need you an extra five hours.” “You’re on the line, shaking in your boots … expecting to go home,” Roos said. Roos and other workers at the Nabisco plant in Northeast Portland say they are routinely forced into overtime at the very end of their shifts, often with just a few minutes’ notice.
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