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SB 1514 |  Oregon Extends Pay Equity Exemption for Certain Pandemic-Related Payments SB 1514 permits employers to continue offering COVID-19 vaccine incentives as well as hiring and retention bonuses through the end of Oregon’s state of emergency, plus 180 days, without running afoul of the state’s pay equity law.    May 11 |   OSHA Invites Oregon Employers & Workers to Take a ‘Safety Break’   Oregon OSHA encourages employers and workers across the state to take […]

Effective May 1, 2022, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is ending its temporary COVID-19-related policy of allowing employers to use expired List B identity documents for I-9 purposes.     Employers will no longer be able to accept expired identity documents when verifying an employee’s work eligibility on Form I-9. The temporary policy was implemented by the Department of Homeland Security in May of 2020 due to many government agencies that were not able […]

E-Verify Records 10 Years or Older Will Be Deleted April 1  Now is the time to check employee I-9 records    U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that it will purge E-Verify records that were created on or before Dec. 31, 2011. Data that is more than 10 years old will be deleted from the E-Verify electronic employment eligibility verification system by April 1, 2022.    The I-9 data purge is designed to […]

 Employee Retention Checklist  Besides competitive compensation and benefits, here are five best practices employers can embrace to keep their staff happy and keep them from looking for another job. The current labor shortage has companies competing for workers, and business owners must be aware of what their own employees want in an employer, and what motivates them to stay at their jobs.     Five Factors for Happy Employees  For the past 10 years, the Society […]

How can employers compete for workers during this hiring shortage? Employers can jump to the front of the recruiting line by offering an internship!    Internships are based on the concept of an inexperienced worker learning and training under the direction of a more experienced employee for a pre-determined length of time. Traditionally, students have filled internship roles, but lately, the concept of an internship has expanded to include more established workers trying out a […]

Statistics reveal additional reasons behind the current worker shortage    Millions of workers have yet to return to the job market, while there is a near-record number of job openings. Why? Below, we take a deeper dive into the top reasons workers are quitting, or not applying for work at all. According to the U.S. Labor Department’s August’s 2021 Job Openings and Labor Turnover stats and the U.S. Census Bureau’s September 2021 Household Pulse Survey, […]

Employer Alert – SB 483   Oregon’s Anti-Retaliation Law Now in Effect  What’s New   On June 15, 2021, the Oregon Governor signed SB 483 into law, effective immediately. This bill extends protections for workplace whistleblowers in Oregon, making it easier for workers to claim retaliation if punished or terminated by their employers after making a workplace complaint. The SB483 law says, if an employee makes a complaint about employment matters or safety, and is terminated within […]

Want an honest, insider view of your business? Do employee exit interviews!  Why Should I do Employee Exit Interviews in 2021?  It’s a tough job market for employers. Understanding why your employees choose to leave provides insight on how to retain good workers. Performing an exit interview with a departing employee can be a source of unfiltered, insider information that gives you valuable intel about the inner workings of your business. By asking the right […]