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.
Articles About Oregon Labor And Employment 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.
Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries Issues Minimum Wage Rules
As we previously advised,1 on March 2, 2016, Oregon enacted the first geographically-tiered minimum wage hike in the country. This new minimum wage law, which becomes effective on July 1, 2016, imposes different minimum wage rates for employers in the Portland, Oregon metro area and for employers located in the more rural parts of the state.
Oregon Minimum Wage Hikes Begin July 2016
While the federal minimum wage remains stagnant ($7.25 per hour since July 24, 2009), different states have sought to lead with their own minimum wage rulemaking.
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.
Oregon ‘Ban the Box’ Legislation Effective, Next is Even Tougher Portland Ordinance
Oregon law restricting employers from inquiring about a job applicant’s criminal background during the initial stages of the application process (i.e., before a job interview) went into effect on January 1, 2016. Beginning July 1, 2016, the City of Portland will take ban-the-box restrictions a few steps further, with its own ordinance.
Final Regulations Clarify Some Provisions of the Oregon Sick Leave Law
Anticipation of the January 1, 2016, effective date, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) has published administrative rules to implement the Oregon Sick Leave Law.
Oregon Supreme Court Case Reminds Businesses about the Complexity of Independent Contractor Classification
Correctly classifying workers as either employees or independent contractors can be complicated and difficult. Multiple and different classification tests apply to a single working relationship – including, but not limited to, distinct tests for: (1) workers’ compensation coverage and premiums; (2) wage-and-hour and civil rights issues; (3) federal taxes; and (4) state payroll and unemployment taxes. These tests are often subjective, and at times can conflict. Additionally, misclassifying a worker as an independent contractor can result in costly audits, assessments of back taxes, and stiff penalties.
Portland, Oregon Bans the Box
On November 25, 2015, Portland’s City Council unanimously passed new rules that will significantly affect an employer’s ability to obtain and use criminal history information in the hiring process. With these new rules, Portland joins the growing number of other cities, counties and states across the country, including Oregon,1 that have enacted similar “ban-the-box” legislation in recent years.2