Oregon Labor Laws

In the US, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sets laws to manage time spent by employees in the workplace, safeguarding their rights and guaranteeing fair pay for their efforts. These laws act as directives for employers, keeping them in check, and minimizing any forms of abuse or exploitation.

Oregon time management and labor laws offer increased protections for employers and employees in the state. A brief overview of of minimum wage, overtime, and break laws in Oregon are as follows: 

Employers who contravene state employee and time management laws can face severe legal ramifications, including fines, back pay, and damages. If workers feel that their employer has violated federal time management laws, they can file a complaint with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries for investigation and legal action.

During the hiring process, employers in Oregon are prohibited from discriminating against employees based on the following protected characteristics:

Employers in Oregon cannot request an employee’s wage history, screen applicants based on past or current pay, or set compensation for a job based on a candidate’s previous earnings, except in cases of internal transfers.

Under the Oregon Equal Pay Act. employers cannot pay working employees different wages and benefits with comparable job responsibilities due to the aforementioned protected characteristics. However, employers may provide wage disparities based on seniority, merit, production quality or quantity, education, training, and experience. 

Oregon also subscribes to the “employment-at-will” policy. This means employers can terminate working employees without reason at any time, while employees are free to leave a job for any reason with no legal repercussions. 

However, employers cannot end an employment contract due to discriminatory or retaliatory reasons or if a contract outlines a specific termination process. After termination of employment, final wages must be paid according to the following rules: 

• An employee who quits with less than 48 hours notice must be given final wages within five days or their next regularly scheduled payday (whichever comes first)
• An employee who quits with a 48-hour notice must be paid final wages on their last day of employment. If the final day falls on a holiday or weekend, wages are due on the next business day. 
•  A fired employee must be paid all dues by the end of the next business day.
• When an employer and employee mutually agree to end an employment contract, final wages are due by the end of the next business day.
• When discharged, state and county fair employees must be paid final wages on the second business day after termination if their employment ends on a weekend or holiday.

Failing to pay an employee’s final wages on time can lead to significant penalties, including daily penalty wages equal to eight times the employee’s regular rate, accruing for up to 30 days. 

Some significant labor law regulations that affect employment in Oregon include:

• Workplace Safety Laws: The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Act requires employers to provide safe working conditions and regularly inspect for hazards. Employers must provide proper training and education and continuous assistance to ensure workplace safety. Regular safety and health research and demonstrations are also required. 
• Whistleblower Protection Laws: Public and non-profit employees who report employer mismanagement and fraud or provide information regarding violations of law to relevant authorities are protected from employer retaliation under Oregon’s Whistleblower Protections. Employers who discourage employees from whistleblowing commit a Class A misdemeanor under state law.
• Health Insurance Continuation Laws: The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) is a federal law that ensures employees and their dependents can keep their healthcare benefits after loss of employment. This law applies to employers with 20 or more employees and provides extended coverage for 18 to 36 months. Oregon’s Mini-COBRA allows businesses with less than 20 employees to provide extended health coverage for up to 18 months after an employee’s termination date.
• Ban-the-Box Laws: Oregon’s “Ban the Box” law prohibits employers from asking about an applicant’s criminal record on initial job applications. However, in Portland, employers may only ask about criminal history after an application has been reviewed, an interview has been conducted, and an offer of employment has been made.
• Drug and Alcohol Testing Laws: In Oregon, there is no law that specifically forbids or permits employers to test their job applicants and workers for substance abuse. This means that if an employer reasonably suspects that an individual is using alcohol, they are allowed to conduct a breathalyzer test. However, if there is no reasonable suspicion, the individual can only be tested if they give explicit permission.
• Social Media Laws: Oregon laws protect employees and applicants from being asked by their employers about their personal social media accounts. Employers cannot force their employees to access their accounts while the employer is present, make them connect with certain business contacts, ask them to advertise the employer’s business on their accounts or demand access to their login information.
• Shift Scheduling Laws: Oregon’s predictive scheduling laws require big employers in retail, hospitality, or food service, to give employees a written work schedule when they’re hired. The schedule has to include information regarding the employee’s work hours on average each month, along with info about a “voluntary standby list” and whether the employee might get called in at the last minute to work. An employer can’t make an employee work a shift that starts less than 10 hours after their last one ends.
• Portland Facial Recognition Laws: Private organizations are prohibited from utilizing facial recognition technologies in public spaces in Portland except for the following cases: for federal, state, or local laws’ requirements, to verify users’ identities to access their electronic and communication devices, and conducting automatic facial recognition on social media apps.
• Recordkeeping Laws: Under state law, employers in Oregon are required to maintain employee records including their credentials and work hour information for at least two years. Federal law requires employers to maintain employment records for three years and payroll records for two years. Additionally, OSHA requires employers with ten or more employees to maintain records for all job-related injuries and illnesses for five years.

A minimum wage is the lowest hourly rate an employee can be paid. This amount cannot be further reduced due to mutual agreement between an employer and employee or collective bargaining.

From July 1, 2024, till June 30, 2025, the standard minimum wage in Oregon is $14.70 per hour. However, certain localities in the state follow different wage standards:

• Portland Metro: $15.95 per hour 
• Non-urban counties: $13.70 per hour

Minimum wage laws apply to all employees in Oregon, regardless of whether they are hourly, salaried, or if they earn by piece rate or through commissions. Minors in Oregon are entitled to the same minimum wages as well. 

Tip credits are illegal in Oregon. Tipped employees in Oregon receive the same minimum wage as non-tipped employees. However, employers can require tip pooling with other tipped workers. 

According to Oregon labor laws, some occupations are not subject to minimum wage laws including: 

• White-collar employees
• Outside salespeople (paid on commission, by piecework or flat rate schedules)
• Referees and assistant referees in youth or adult recreational soccer matches if classified as independent contractors
• Inmates in work release programs if employed through the Oregon Department of Corrections
• Resident managers of adult foster homes if they live with their employer for daily care or work in a licensed foster home
• Volunteers
• Seasonal workers in camps and non-profit organizations
• Agricultural workers (under certain conditions)
• Domestic workers residing with their employers

As of June 30, 2023, employees with disabilities cannot be paid subminimum wages in Oregon. 

Paychecks in Oregon must be issued to employees at least once a month and must follow a regular schedule. Pay periods should be no more than 35 days apart. Deductions from wages are allowed if legally necessary (e.g. taxes) or if the employee agrees in writing. Additionally, these deductions must be clearly stated on the employee’s paystub.

Following Oregon’s overtime laws, workers in Oregon are guaranteed overtime payment for any hours worked above 40 in a week. Overtime wages are calculated at 1.5 times an employee’s regular hourly wage. 

For minimum wage workers in Oregon, overtime wages in the state currently stand at:

• $22.05  per hour for standard minimum wage workers
• $20.55 per hour for employees in certain non-urban counties
• $23.925 per hour in Portland Metro 

Beginning January 1, 2025, all employees who earn at least $1,128 per week ($58,656 annually) are exempt from receiving overtime pay, even if they work beyond 40 hours in a week. This generally includes employees working in executive, administrative, and professional occupations as well as outside salespersons and computer employees.

Other occupations considered exempt from overtime pay include:

• Some agricultural and livestock workers
• Casual domestic workers in family homes
• Students employed by their schools
• Taxi operators
• Live-in workers available for emergencies or paid for on-call hours
• Managers and maintenance workers in multi-unit accommodations
• Seasonal camp workers earning under $500,000 annually
• Workers at nonprofit camps or conference areas
• Volunteer firefighters
• Companions to elderly or disabled individuals in homes
• Resident managers of adult foster care homes
• Inmate laborers
• Recreational soccer referees
• Certain ski patrollers, golf caddies, and marshals
• Petroleum distribution workers at local independent businesses
• Workers covered by collective bargaining agreements
• Live-in hospital or care facility workers
• Seasonal nonprofit amusement park workers (operating ≤7 months/year)
• Fishing and aquatic processing workers

Employers in Oregon are required to provide all employees a paid 10-minute rest break for every four hours of work or a major portion of four hours. These breaks must be scheduled as close to the middle of the four hours as possible. 

Employers cannot combine meal and rest breaks into one break or deduct the duration of the rest period from the start or the end of a worker’s shift. In certain circumstances, employers are not required to provide rest breaks to workers. Learn more with our extensive guide to break laws in Oregon.  

All non-exempt employees in Oregon must be granted a 30-minute meal break if their shift lasts at least six hours. Employees must be relieved of all job duties for their meal break to be unpaid. However, if an employee continues working during a meal break, such as employees who are required to stay on work premises or are on-call, they must be paid for the entire duration of the break. 

Additional meal and rest breaks can be provided if an employee’s shift lasts longer. The table below provides an overview of breaks afforded to employees according to their daily work hours. 

If you’re a working mother in Oregon who recently gave birth and is still breastfeeding, you have the right to take a break to breastfeed your newborn. Employers must provide adequate conditions for these female workers, as mandated both at a state and federal level. This break can be either paid or unpaid, depending on the company’s policies. “Adequate conditions” means that employers need to provide a private room or location with a door that isn’t a bathroom stall. This location should ideally be as close as possible to the working area.  

Oregon provides two types of leaves – required and non-required leaves.

• Sick Leave – In Oregon, employers are required to provide their employees with up to 40 hours of sick leave. The type of sick leave (paid or unpaid) is determined based on the number of employees in the company. If the employer has 10 or more employees, then they must offer paid sick leave. However, if the employer has less than 10 employees, then they are only required to offer unpaid sick leave. The only exception to this rule is in the city of Portland, where employers with 6 or more employees must offer paid sick leave.
• Family and Medical Leave – All employers in Oregon are required to provide their employees with a specific type of leave, which is regulated by the Family and Medical Leave Act or FMLA. This leave allows employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected time off for household and medical-related reasons, such as caring for a family member’s serious health condition, or their own newly-born child or medical condition. To be eligible, an employee must have worked for the employer for at least a year and 1,250 hours. The FMLA has been amended to include up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a member of the Armed Forces with a serious health condition, applicable only if the member is an employee’s spouse, parent, child, or next of kin. It’s important to note that, on a federal level, this is only applicable to employers with over 50 employees, while in Oregon, the threshold is lower and applicable to employers with at least 25 employees.
• Jury Duty Leave – If an employee in Oregon is called upon to serve jury duty, their employer is required by law to permit them to be away from work for that time. Employers are not permitted to mandate that employees use their sick leave, vacation days, or any other type of leave during this period. Furthermore, employers are prohibited from penalizing or disciplining their employees for fulfilling their civic duty, although they are not required to provide compensation for this period.
• Witness Leave – According to the law, employers must give their employees who have been summoned to court as a witness either paid or unpaid leave.
• Domestic Violence or Sexual Assault Leave – Employees who have experienced domestic or sexual violence, sexual assault, or stalking, or who have a minor child or dependent in these situations, are eligible for unpaid leave. The aim of this leave is to provide legal or law enforcement aid and ensure the employee and their dependents’ safety. This type of leave can be taken for several reasons, including preparing for and participating in legal proceedings, seeking medical treatment for injuries, receiving counseling from a licensed mental health professional, obtaining services from a victim services provider, or relocating to a secure domestic environment.
• Crime Victim Leave – If an employee or their family member becomes a victim of a crime, their employer must provide them with leave (paid or unpaid) to attend any proceedings related to the crime, or to prepare for it.
• Military Leave – In the US, employees who serve in the US Armed Forces, National Guard, or state militia are entitled to a leave of absence under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Act. When they return to work, they must receive the same benefits they would have received had they been present at work. In Oregon, employees who are members of another state militia can also take this leave if they are invited to active duty by that state’s governor. This law applies to all US employees.
• Military Family Leave – If an employee’s partner or same-sex domestic partner is called to military service, the employee is eligible for a type of leave called family military leave. This leave is unpaid and only available to employers that have 25 or more employees. It can last for a maximum of two weeks. The only requirement is that the employee must work an average of more than 20 hours per week.

A minor in Oregon is defined as any individual under the age of 18. The minimum age of employment in Oregon is 14. 

Work Permits for Minors in Oregon

Employers in Oregon must obtain a certificate of employment to employ any minor in their establishment. They are also required to maintain proof of age for a minor with an appropriate legal document. 

Minors aged between 14 and 17 do not need work permits.

Working hours for minors under state law vary based on their age and are briefly discussed below:

For Minors Aged 16 and 17

• No daily work hour limits.
• They can work up to 44 hours weekly. 

For Minors Aged 14 and 15

When school is in session

• They can work up to three hours daily on school days, with a weekly maximum of 18 hours.
• They can work up to eight hours on non-school days.
• Work hours can only be scheduled between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., outside of school hours. 

During summer break or holidays

• They can work up to eight hours daily, with a weekly maximum of 40 hours.
• Work hours can be scheduled between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. from June 1 till Labor Day. 

Breaks for Minors in Oregon

Minors in Oregon are entitled to paid rest breaks lasting at least 15 minutes for every four hours of consecutive work. Moreover, they must also be provided a 30-minute meal break if they work for more than six hours in a shift or day.

Certain occupations are strictly prohibited for minors due to federal restrictions. These hazardous occupations include: