As we recently noted, Washington state amended its data breach notification law on May 7 to expand the definition of “personal information” and shorten the notification deadline (among other changes). Not to be outdone by its sister state to the north, Oregon followed suit shortly thereafter—Senate Bill 684 passed unanimously in both legislative bodies on May 20, and was signed into law by Governor Kate Brown on May 24. The amendments will become effective January 1, 2020.
Articles Discussing General Topics In Oregon Labor & Employment Law.
Oregon Enacts Pregnancy Accommodations Law
Beginning January 1, 2020, Oregon employers must provide reasonable accommodations to employees and job applicants who have limitations related to pregnancy, unless doing so would impose an undue hardship. The new law applies to employers with at least six employees.
Oregon Supreme Court Holds Employer Not Completely Immune Under Social Host Statute
Oregon’s highest court has held that although the state’s “social host” law protects certain persons from liability related to their actions taken as “hosts,” there is no similar insulation from liability for alleged tortious conduct committed while acting in another role, such as employer. Schutz v. La Costita III, Inc., 364 Or. 536 (March 14, 2019).
Oregon’s Pay Equity Law: Bureau of Labor and Industries Issues Permanent Administrative Order and Rules
On November 19, 2018, Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) issued its administrative order and rules implementing the Oregon Equal Pay Act of 2017 (the “Pay Equity Law”), which includes restrictions on salary history inquiries, expands existing remedies available to employees, and provides a safe harbor for employers that have voluntarily assessed their pay practices to identify and eliminate discriminatory pay practices.1 The administrative rules, summarized below, provide guidance on a number of issues arising under the Pay Equity Law, which takes effect on January 1, 2019.
Oregon Enacts Tougher Data Breach Notification Law
Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed a bill last month toughening the state’s already stringent data breach notification law, which will take effect on June 2, 2018. The most significant change for companies to be aware of is the requirement that affected consumers be notified no later than 45 days following discovery of a breach. Additionally, if a company offers free credit monitoring or identity theft protection services to the affected consumers, the company may not require the consumers to provide a credit or debit card number in order to receive such services.
Oregon Enacts New Law Impacting Overtime and Maximum Hour Limits for Manufacturers
A new Oregon law clarifies Oregon’s daily and weekly overtime laws and sets new maximum-hour limits for certain Oregon employers. The new statute, which Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed on August 8, 2017, requires most employers in the manufacturing sector to pay employees the greater of daily or weekly overtime if an employee works more than 10 hours in a single day and more than 40 hours total in the course of a single workweek. The law also sets a firm 55-hour weekly limit for most manufacturing-sector employees.
New Oregon Law Imposes Scheduling and Working Hours Obligations on Employers
A new Oregon statute will require certain large employers to provide their Oregon employees with advance notice of their work schedules. The notice period will initially be 7 days starting next year before increasing to 14 days in 2020. “Predictive scheduling” requirements have been considered by legislatures in several states in recent years, and a number of cities have adopted predictive scheduling ordinances, but Oregon’s is the first to actually become a statewide law.
Oregon Becomes First State in Nation to Enact Scheduling Legislation
Oregon has become the first U.S. state to regulate employer scheduling practices in the food service, hospitality, and retail industries. The new law, S.B. 828, will take effect July 1, 2018.
Oregon Clarifies Paid Sick Leave Law
Oregon Governor Kate Brown recently signed Senate Bill 299 into law, which makes some clarifications and changes to Oregon’s Paid Sick Time law, which took effect on January 1, 2016.
Oregon Enacts Expansive Pay Equity Law
The Oregon Equal Pay Act of 2017 greatly extends pay equity protections to a variety of protected classes, prohibits employers from asking for applicants’ salary history, and expands existing remedies available to employees. House Bill 2005 also offers key protections and a safe harbor for employers.
Oregon Board Adopts Final Rules to Implement Retirement Savings Program
On April 18, 2017, the Oregon Retirement Savings Board adopted final rules to implement the Oregon Retirement Savings Program (known as “OregonSaves”) codified at 170-090-0001 et seq. OregonSaves establishes a state-sponsored payroll deduction retirement savings plan requiring Oregon employers that do not offer retirement plans to their employees to make payroll deductions from their workers’ wages into the state’s program.
Court Rejects Recent Interpretation of Oregon Overtime Laws That Would Have Required Certain Employers to Double Count Daily and Weekly Overtime
On March 9, 2017, the Multnomah County Circuit Court rejected the recent move by the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) to require Oregon’s “manufacturing establishments” to double count daily and weekly overtime for their employees under ORS 653.216 and 652.020. In December 2016, BOLI made waves by making a sudden and unexplained change to its longstanding guidance on how to calculate daily and weekly overtime in these establishments. (See coverage here).
Oregon Changes Interpretation of Overtime Laws, Advising Certain Employers to Double Count Daily and Weekly Overtime Payments
Between December 2016 and January 2017, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) instituted a significant change in its historic treatment of the interplay between two statutes that provide for daily and weekly overtime pay.
Portland, Oregon, Issues Rules Implementing ‘Ban the Box’
The City of Portland has issued administrative rules to the “Removing Barriers to Employment,” its ordinance aimed at removing job barriers for individuals with criminal records (Chapter 23.10 of the Portland Municipal Code). The Ordinance, which took effect on July 1, 2016, prohibits criminal history inquiries and background checks until a conditional offer of employment has been made.
Historic Minimum Wage Increase in Oregon
On March 2, 2016, Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed the first geographically-tiered minimum wage hike in the country. Senate Bill 1532 also gives Oregon the nation’s current highest projected state-wide minimum wage.