BOLI Finalizes New Meal and Rest Period Rules

January 2009

The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) has finalized new meal and rest period rules that are to take effect immediately. The new rule does make some slight changes, but stops far short of the drastic changes that were first proposed by BOLI. AOI and other business groups were instrumental in helping to re-direct the rule to become more employer-friendly.

Oregon employees are currently allowed a mandatory 30-minute, uninterrupted, unpaid meal period per 6-hour shift. The new rules implemented by BOLI clarify three major exceptions to the mandatory meal period:

• Emergency or unforeseen circumstances;
• Industry practice or custom has established a paid meal period of less than 30-minutes (e.g., 20-minute meal periods in the plywood industry); or
• An undue hardship on an employer as characterized by:
  1. Significant difficulty or expense to the employer;
  2. The cost of compliance;
  3. The total number of employees at a worksite at one time;
  4. The total number of employees employed;
  5. The financial resources of the employer;
  6. Intermittent or unpredictable work flow;
  7. Perishable products;
  8. Machinery operation.

Even if the requirement causes undue hardship, employers must still provide "adequate" time for an employee to eat, rest and use the restroom. The term "adequate" remains undefined. If an employer takes advantage of an exception, they will need to download a form from the BOLI website that indicates that the employer is claiming an exception, and each employee must sign the form. The employer must then keep those forms on file. The rule takes effect immediately, but the forms will take a few months to develop. In the event of a complaint, the employer must prove to BOLI that their claim of undue hardship is warranted under the factors listed above.