Your Safe Staffing Complaint Form

Since 1997, the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) has provided a means for hospital nurses to report when staffing on their unit or shift is insufficient through the Staffing Request and Documentation Form (SRDF).  With the historic passage of the Hospital Safe Staffing Law in 2023, Oregon now has minimum nurse-to-patients ratios in hospitals; an expanded staffing committee structures for service, technical, and professional allied health care workers; and new enforcement powers for the state to ensure compliance with the law.

Under the new Hospital Safe Staffing Law, you should submit complaints directly to the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to hold employers accountable if you believe they are in violation of the Safe Staffing Law. Learn more about the law here. 

Click here to learn more about the staffing law implementation. 

How do I submit a complaint?

• Simply follow the link above to submit your complaint. 
• Complaints must be submitted no later than 60 days after the violation occurs.
• A copy of the complaint will be sent by OHA to ONA. 

Tips to filling out the complaint form:  

• Choose ONA (Oregon Nurses Association) as your exclusive representative. 
  
• You will need to provide your home address and phone number, these complaints are confidential and not accessible by the public. 
  

What happens after I submit a complaint?

• Within 30 days of submitting the complaint: If the complaint is deemed valid based on the list of violations below, OHA will open an investigation and provide notice to the hospital, the cochairs of your staffing committee, and ONA. 
• Within 20 days of the notice, the hospital must provide relevant documentation. 
• OHA will review submissions by the hospital and, as applicable, any documentation from hospital staff and/or ONA. 
• OHA may investigate further by making an on-site inspection, interviewing certain individuals and/or compelling certain documents. 
• OHA must complete the investigation within 80 days of opening the investigation and send a report to the hospital, the staffing committee cochairs, and ONA. 
  

When should I submit a complaint?

Nearly all elements of the bill are in effect as of June 1, 2025. An improvement to the medical surgical RN-to-patient ratio is one of the last elements to be implemented. The medical surgical ratio is 1:5 until June 1, 2026 when it tightens to 1:4. Because a hospital is not required to have a 1:4 ratio until June 1, 2026 OHA will not investigate a complaint about the 1:4 med-surg. ratio until after that date unless this ratio is specified in your staffing plan. However, nearly all other elements of the bill are in effect.

When all aspects of the bill are effective, the complete list of valid complaints will be: 

• Failure to establish a hospital professional and technical staffing committee or a hospital service staffing committee. 
• Failure to create a professional and technical staffing plan or a hospital service staffing plan.
• Failure to adopt a nurse staffing plan by agreement or after binding arbitration.
• Failure to comply with the staffing level in the nurse staffing plan, including the nurse-to-patient staffing ratios, is not an allowed deviation under the law.
• Failure to comply with the staffing level in the professional and technical staffing plan or the hospital service staffing plan and the failure is not an allowed deviation under the law.
• Failure to comply with the staffing requirements for CNAs in the bill and the failure is not an allowed deviation under the law.
• Failure to allow a staff person who is on a hospital's hospital-wide staffing committee to attend a staffing committee meeting because the staff person was not released from other hospital duties to attend the meeting. 
• Requiring a nursing staff, except as allowed by ORS 441.166, to work: 
  • Beyond an agreed-upon prearranged shift regardless of the length of the shift;
  • More than 48 hours in any hospital-defined work week;
  • More than 12 hours in a 24-hour period; or
  • During the 10-hour period immediately following the 12th hour worked during a 24-hour period

What about missed meals and breaks specifically?

• The 2023 hospital nurse staffing law establishes that the statutory ratios must be maintained even when a nurse gets a break: this means when you go out on a break, your patients are cared for so you will not be behind in your work when you get back.
• Before you file a complaint, check your collective bargaining agreement (CBA). If there is a monetary remedy for missed meals and breaks in your CBA, consider filing a grievance. The state will not enforce a fine in these instances. 
• If there is no monetary remedy in your CBA, complaints must be filed with OHA within 60 days of the missed meal or rest break.
• OHA will forward your complaint to Oregon's Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) within 14 days of receiving it, and will notify the hospital, co-chairs of the staffing committee, and ONA that a complaint has been filed. BOLI will investigate the complaint.
• The fine for a missed meal or rest breaks is $200, paid by the hospital, if BOLI deems the complaint valid.