This year, the Oregon Legislature enacted a number of employment-related laws. Recent alerts have discussed the new laws regarding noncompetition agreements and pregnancy accommodations. Other new laws relate to discrimination, sexual assault, breast-milk expression, immigration records, and pay equity requirements.
Oregon Workplace Fairness Act (SB 726)
Limits on Severance Agreements
Beginning October 1, 2020, this Act prohibits employers from entering into agreements that include nondisclosure, nondisparagement or other provisions that prohibit employees (including prospective employees) from disclosing or discussing instances of sexual assault or discrimination (“prohibited conduct”) that occurred between employees if that conduct occurred in the workplace or at an off-premises work-related event coordinated by or through the employer, or that occurred between an employer and an employee anywhere.
There are rules for no-rehire provisions, as well. Such nondisclosure, nondisparagement, and no-rehire provisions may be valid in certain situations, but any employee alleging discrimination or sexual assault must have requested the agreement and must have seven days after signing the agreement to revoke it.
For purposes of this law, “sexual assault” means “unwanted conduct of a sexual nature that is inflicted upon a person or compelled through the use of physical force, manipulation, threat or intimidation,” and therefore includes behavior more commonly described as “sexual harassment.”
“Discrimination,” as used in this Act, means discriminating based on certain factors enumerated in specified statutes. These are race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy-related conditions), sexual orientation, national origin, marital status, age, expunged juvenile record, uniformed service members, and disability.
Written Policy
The Act also requires every employer with employees in Oregon to adopt a written policy that contains procedures and practices intended to reduce and prevent discrimination based on protected class.
This policy must set out a process for employees to report prohibited conduct. The policy must identify an individual and an alternate to receive such reports, include the applicable statute of limitations period, state that the employer may not require or coerce an employee to enter into a non-disclosure or non-disparagement agreement, explain that an employee claiming to be aggrieved by prohibited conduct may voluntarily request to enter into a non-disclosure or non-disparagement agreement with a seven-day revocation period, and advise all staff to document any incidents of prohibited conduct.
The policy will need to be provided to each new employee at the time of hire and to any employee who discloses information related to prohibited conduct. The policy must also be made available to employees within the workplace.
Voiding of Severance Agreements with Violators
The Act also allows employers to void certain provisions of employment agreements with supervisors or managers that would otherwise require payment of severance, so long as the employer has reasonably determined that the person has engaged in prohibited conduct and the prohibited conduct was a substantial contributing factor in causing the separation from employment.
Statute of Limitations
The Act increases the statute of limitations for filing a claim alleging prohibited conduct from one year to five years. This applies to both complaints to the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) and complaints filed in court.
Other New Employment Laws
HB 2005 creates a family and medical leave insurance program to provide compensated time away from work to covered individuals who meet certain criteria while on family leave, medical leave, or safe leave.
HB 2589, which took effect in May, clarifies that sexual orientation is not an impairment for purposes of state disability discrimination and accommodation laws.
HB 2593 changes the break of 30 minutes per work segment break for breast-milk expression to reasonable rest periods as needed. The requirements used to apply to employers with 25 or more employees, but as of October 1, 2019, they apply to all employers. Only employers with 10 or fewer employees can be excused from providing such breaks due to hardship.
HB 3120, which became effective in May, provides that a person is not disqualified from unemployment benefits in certain circumstances where the reason the person is not working is related to hate crimes or the reasonable fear of hate crimes.
SB 123 clarifies pay equity requirements for certain situations in which an employer is paying different levels of compensation to employees.
SB 164 relates to the OregonSaves program, which requires each employer to offer a state-run Roth IRA to its employees unless the employer already offers an employer-sponsored retirement plan.
SB 370, which took effect in June, imposes certain notification requirements on employers who receive notices from federal agencies compelling them to provide access to materials the employer used to verify the identity and employment eligibility of its employees.
SB 494, which becomes effective on October 1, 2019, sets wage requirements for employers authorized to employ individuals with disabilities at subminimum wages. After June 30, 2023, employers will be required to pay all such individuals the minimum wage then in effect.
SB 519, effective January 1, 2020, increases the minimum wage exemption for purposes of wage garnishment.
SB 823, effective January 1, 2020, requires health care employers to conduct comprehensive security and safety evaluations.
Please feel free to contact us – whether you are an employer or an employee – if you have any questions about these new laws, or other employment law issues.
Photo by Arlington Research on Unsplash
