Employment Law – 2016 Summer Update

By: Jennifer Paul

Employment Law

As the weather heats up, so too have changes to employment laws.  The following are some “hot” employment law topics to keep in mind:

  • Oregon’s Minimum Wage increased as of July 1, 2016, with new minimum wage rates for three regions of the state now in place.  Be sure to update your Board of Labor and Industries minimum wage posters;
  • Portland’s “Ban the Box” ordinance took effect July 1, 2016, which, among other things, prohibits consideration of criminal histories until after making a conditional offer of employment.  The Portland ordinance is more restrictive than Oregon’s statewide “Ban the Box” law;
  • Effective August 1, 2016, the DOL has released a mandatory update for affected federal labor law posters including the Fair Labor Standards Act and Employee Polygraph Protection Act posters;
  • The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued its final rule to “Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illness,” the anti-retaliation and discrimination piece of the new rule takes effect August 10, 2016, and the new electronic submissions for injury data will phase in overtime (for more information click here);
  • The Department of Labor issued its revised overtime rule increasing the salary threshold for white collar exemptions to overtime from $455 per week/$23,660 annually to $913 per week/$47,476 annually.  This increase goes into effect December 1, 2016.

The employment attorneys at Saalfeld Griggs, Randall Sutton, David Briggs and Jennifer Paul can assist you with any of these issues.