Oregon is poised to become the first state in the country to require larger food service, retail and hospitality employers to provide their hourly workers predictable schedules – or to pay the price. This is the second of two major changes to Oregon employment law. An earlier alert discussed the Equal Pay Act.
Starting July 1, 2018, qualifying employers must post a written work schedule for all employees one week ahead. The requirement expands to two weeks in 2020. Employees may decline any work shifts not included in the advance schedule, and employees may ask (only in writing) for additional shifts during the notice window. The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) will start enforcing the law January 1, 2019.
The legislature passed Senate Bill 828, known by its champions as the Fair Work Week Act, and the bill is heading to the desk of Oregon Governor Kate Brown for her expected signature. To read more about the details of the Act, read our recent Client Update.
Even as Oregon’s minimum wage jumps by $1.50 in the Portland metro area (fifty cents elsewhere in Oregon), the 2017 Legislature has passed two more worker-friendly bills dealing with equal pay and predictable work schedules. (More on the scheduling law in the next alert.)
This week’s GSB OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending June 23, 2017 is below. A variety of stories this week.
Initiative 124 (aka I-124), the ballot measure approved by voters in November 2016 that establishes several new purported "safety and health" standards for hotel employees in the city of Seattle, opens the door for unprecedented exposures for Seattle's hotel operators. Since its enactment last December, Initiative 124 has given rise to several questions about how, if at all, insurance policies might respond to allegations under the new law.
Our weekly client OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending June 16, 2017 is below. Several interesting stories this week...
This week’s OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending June 9, 2017 is below. This week’s Update features a variety of stories.
This week’s client OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending June 2, 2017 is below. A short update this week...
This week’s OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending May 26, 2017 is below. A short, but significant update this week.
Our weekly OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending May 21, 2017 is below. Nothing earth shattering this week...
This week’s GSB weekly client OTA & Travel Distribution Update for the week ending May 12, 2017 is below.
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- Rhetoric Over AHLA’s Planned Lobbying Efforts Ramps Up [OTA]. Not surprisingly, Priceline Group CEO Glenn Fogel has a slightly different perspective on the OTA’s influence and control over the online travel agency industry. Responding to recent reports (see last week’s Update) outlining AHLA’s plans to lobby Trump administration officials over Expedia’s and Priceline Group’s dominance of the online travel agency industry, Glenn objected to AHLA’s characterization of Expedia’s and Priceline Group’s control as a monopolistic. According to Glenn, such statements, when considering Priceline Group’s share of the global travel industry (as opposed to AHLA’s use of the U.S. online travel industry – a much smaller denominator) constitute “misstatements” and untrue “allegations.” I suspect Glenn’s comments are not the last that we will see coming out of the OTAs regarding AHLA’s planned campaign.
Priceline Group CEO Faults Hotel Association for False Allegations
Skift Travel News, May 11, 2017
There is ample competition among hotels, online travel agencies, and airlines in the U.S. travel marketplace as all of these sectors have seen a spate of consolidation. It may make sense business-wise for these companies, but none of it is particularly good for consumers or competition.
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About the Editor
Greg Duff founded and chairs Foster Garvey’s national Hospitality, Travel & Tourism group. His practice largely focuses on operations-oriented matters faced by hospitality industry members, including sales and marketing, distribution and e-commerce, procurement and technology. Greg also serves as counsel and legal advisor to many of the hospitality industry’s associations and trade groups, including AH&LA, HFTP and HSMAI.
