Legislative Update


2019 Oregon Legislative Update

New Business Tax? You might remember Measure 97, a gross receipts tax that Oregon voters overwhelming turned down in 2016?  This gross receipts  would have been levied on the business’s sales regardless if companies make a profit. The Oregon Legislature is going back to the idea of a gross receipts tax to plug our upcoming budget deficit.  There are several routes the Legislature may go: a restructured gross receipts tax; a business activity tax—which is […]


NEW Oregon Mandated Retirement Plan

Oregon Mandates a Retirement Plan FOR ALL EMPLOYERS In 2015, Oregon’s state legislature wanted to address Oregonians’ lack of retirement saving. Due to an alarming amount of individuals with no retirement savings, Oregon forged ahead as the first state to create a mandated retirement plan. The plan was crafted with the overall goal of giving Oregonians an easier way to save for retirement.   The legislature passed the Oregon Retirement Security Bill, HB 2960 which […]


NEW Oregon Equal Pay Act

What Every Oregon Employer Needs to Know Governor Kate Brown signed Oregon House Bill 2005 on June 1, 2017. Most of the provisions of the new Oregon Equal Pay Act of 2017 (EPA) go into effect on January 1, 2019. Oregon’s EPA establishes significant penalties for pay discrepancies between those in protected classes and those who are not. Oregon’s EPA makes it an unlawful employment practice for employers to: Screen job seekers based on current […]


Oregon Legislative Update – March 2017

Pending Laws that will Impact Employers As the United States federal government is stealing most of the limelight, it can be easy to forget that the Oregon Legislature is in session and working on several bills that can profoundly impact Oregon employers. At the moment there are four notable bills that are making the rounds within the legislature.   House Bill 2193: “Relating To Employee Work Schedules” Better known as ‘Secure Scheduling’ by its advocates, […]


Proposed Changes in Overtime Rules for Exempt Employees

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 […]


Who coughs up the cost of sick employees?

Impending Mandate – Paid Sick Leave   On June 12th, the Oregon House passed state bill SB 454, a requirement that all employers in Oregon, with few exceptions, provide sick leave to their employees. Earlier in the week, the Oregon Senate had approved the bill. It seems virtually certain that Governor Brown will sign this bill into law. Assuming SB 454 becomes law, it will go into effect on January 1, 2016. Oregon would be […]


Is a $15 minimum wage imminent?

​​​​​One question employers are asking us is about any changes to the minimum wage. Unless you have purposely not been paying attention to the news and stopped reading the newspaper you have probably heard some reference to an increase in the Oregon rate to a $15 minimum wage. There are several bills on this matter in the Oregon legislature. In Cardinal’s last Legislative Update we reviewed three bills.   They were: House Bill 2008 – […]


2015 Oregon Employers’ Legislative Update

The Oregon Legislative has only been in session for a few months and already there has been quite a bit of activity in the labor law category. Let’s begin by reviewing the widely anticipated bills such as Paid Sick Leave and an increased Minimum Wage, which likely will end up on the Governor’s desk, then move on to the unexpected in this legislative update.


2014 Legal Update – Part 2

At the Federal level there are two big items related to labor law. The first is in regards to a Supreme Court ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).  The court ruled that benefits must be extended to same sex couples if the state they reside in recognizes same sex marriages.  What is unclear is how that applies in states that do not recognize same sex marriages.  Even more unclear is if a same […]


2014 Legal Update – Part 1

This two part 2014 legislative update will look at new and changing laws as well as general trends on the local, state and federal levels. MUNICIPAL Effective January 1, 2014 sick pay leave changes came into effect for Portland OR. The key is that it applies to employees that physically work in Portland. Accrual rate is one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked- capped at 40 hours.  If you already have a […]