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Ask HR: Cell phone & internet use on work time.

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Dear HR, I would like to address the issue of employees using cell phones and internet on work time. Do you have any suggestions on rules or verbiage to include?   Answer: We would advise adding cell phone and internet use policies and expectations to your employee handbook including outlining: Electronic Assets Usage – with specific guidelines on appropriate work related internet and email use Social Media – outlining how and when your brand should […]

Ask HR: Terminated with loan balanced owed. Can I collect?

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Dear HR, I recently terminated an employee. I personally loaned the employee $500, of which $300 is still owed. Can I deduct the balance owed from the final paycheck? Answer: An Employer may make a deduction from a final paycheck for a cash loan to an employee ONLY IF the employee has voluntarily signed a loan agreement, and the loan was for the employee’s sole benefit. The deduction may not exceed 25{0c2d428c3cefef4a77c472786cabf3d957ca1c1fde265c02f19cd1ec2d7db907} of the employee’s disposable […]

What is the “Ban the Box” law?

This entry was posted in HR News and tagged Employee Screening on

To Ask, or Not to Ask – Soon There Will be No Question! New “Ban the Box” Law Prohibits Asking an Applicants to Reveal Their Criminal History   The new “Ban the Box” law (Oregon HB 3025) will take effect on January 1, 2016. What exactly is the “Ban the Box” law, and what will this mean for employers?   The “Ban the Box” law restricts the timing of when an employer may ask about […]

2016 Oregon Minimum Wage

This entry was posted in HR News and tagged Oregon Minimum Wage on

Oregon’s minimum wage will hold at $9.25-per-hour in 2016. Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian announced that the 2016 Oregon minimum wage will remain unchanged. The wage is re-calculated each year due to a state law passed by voters in 2002 that ties it to inflation, which for this year, was almost unchanged. Watch out for scare tactics: Employers may receive marketing materiel indicating they may be out of compliance. This is an attempt to scare employers […]

Proposed Changes in Overtime Rules for Exempt Employees

This entry was posted in HR News and tagged Legislative Update Wage & Hour on

The United States Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued proposed rules on the salary test for employees that are exempt from overtime requirements. Exempt employees must be paid regardless of how much or how little work they performed in a day. The current minimum salary of an exempt employee is at least $455 per week. There are other requirements for an employee to be exempt such as the type of work. A good resource is […]

Using Vacation Policy as Sick Leave

This entry was posted in HR News and tagged Sick Leave on

The Pros and Cons of categorizing your employees’ Vacation Policy as Sick Leave.   The Oregon Sick leave law allows employers to use an alternative type of leave policy in lieu of a sick leave policy. The leave law states that if you have a different leave policy that is at least as generous as the sick leave law requirements, then the alternate policy may be substituted. Many employers have been rolling sick leave and […]

Lock in 2016 Health Insurance Prices

This entry was posted in HR News and tagged Health Insurance Oregon Health Insurance Exchange on

Plan Ahead – Lock in 2015 Health Insurance Prices for most of 2016. If you are a small business owner who offers your employees health insurance, or you have looked into offering coverage, you know that health insurance premiums have a bad habit of only going up and shopping for insurance can be difficult. In prior years you had to compare pricing of health insurance Company A to health insurance Company B while trying to […]

Oregon Sick Leave: Employer Rx

This entry was posted in HR News and tagged Sick Leave Wage & Hour on

As predicted, Governor Brown signed SB 454 into law which provides either paid or unpaid sick leave to nearly every employee in Oregon. The Oregon Sick Leave (OSL) law has some specific carve outs for employees who are not affected, such as federal government employees. All other employees must be provided some type of sick leave.   Essentially the Oregon Sick Leave law divides employers into two categories, large and small employers, to determine if […]

Seeing through the Smoke

This entry was posted in HR News and tagged Drug Testing Recreational Marijuana on

Clarity on the Marijuana Update With recreational marijuana use becoming legal in Oregon as of July 1, 2015 the question of how this will affect employers is on the minds of many. And our answer for employers is, not much. Nothing needs to change regarding your DRUG TESTING and hiring policies – unless you choose to ease up your testing standards. The Colorado Supreme Court has made up their mind regarding the question of “can […]