Title 51, Labor and Employment; Unlawful Discrimination

(1) It is the public policy of this state that no person shall be hired, nor permitted to work for wages, under any conditions or terms, for longer hours or days of service than is consistent with the person’s health and physical well-being and ability to promote the general welf…

(1) As used in this section: (a) “Machinery” means material-handling equipment and power-driven machines powered by electricity, nuclear or fossil fuels, hydroelectric power, geothermal power or another power source other than by human hand, foot or breath. (b) “Manufacturing” me…

ORS 652.010 and 652.020 shall not be enforced insofar as they relate to working hours in sawmills, planing mills, shingle mills and logging camps until laws containing like provisions regarding working hours in such places of employment in the States of California, Washington and…

(1) Any employee asserting a violation of ORS 652.020, 653.263 or 653.265 may file a complaint with the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries under ORS 659A.820 or a civil action as provided in ORS 659A.885. (2) In addition to any other damages provided by law, the c…

(1) No person who operates any underground mine yielding gold or silver or copper or lead or other metal shall permit or require any person to work in such underground mine for more than eight hours in any 24 hours. The hours for such employment or work day shall be consecutive e…

As used in ORS 652.050 to 652.080: (1) “Firefighter” means a person whose principal duties consist of preventing or combating fire or preventing loss of life or property from fire. (2) “Regularly organized fire department” means any organization maintained for the purpose of prev…

(1)(a) No person employed on a full-time basis as a firefighter by any regularly organized fire department maintained by any incorporated city, municipality or fire district and that employs not more than three persons on a full-time basis as firefighters shall be required to be …

(1) Every affected incorporated city, municipality and fire district shall put into effect and maintain a schedule of working hours required of regularly employed firefighters which shall not be in excess of the average hours established by ORS 652.060, and which shall provide fo…

In computing the average or total number of hours a week for the purposes of ORS 652.060 and 652.070, authorized vacation or sick leave time shall be considered as time on regular duty. [1959 c.402 §4]

An employer may not: (1) Compel, coerce or otherwise induce or attempt to induce an employee to create, file or sign documents containing information that the employer knows is false related to the hours worked or compensation received by the employee. (2) In addition to any othe…

(1) A person engaged in any business or enterprise of any kind in this state may not issue, in payment of or as evidence of indebtedness for wages due an employee, any order, check, memorandum or other instrument of indebtedness unless the instrument is negotiable and payable wit…

(1) Every employer shall establish and maintain a regular payday, at which date the employer shall pay all employees the wages due and owing to them. (2) Payday may not extend beyond a period of 35 days from the time that the employees entered upon their work, or from the date of…

(1) If, upon complaint by an employee, and after investigation, it appears to the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries that an employer is failing to pay wages within five days of a payday scheduled by the employer, the commissioner may require the employer to give …

Every person engaged in the business of logging or obtaining or securing sawlogs, poles, spars, piles, cordwood, posts or other timber or forest products, or engaged in the business of manufacturing sawlogs or other timber into lumber, and employing one or more employees on a pie…

(1) When an employer discharges an employee or when employment is terminated by mutual agreement, all wages earned and unpaid at the time of the discharge or termination become due and payable not later than the end of the first business day after the discharge or termination. (2…

(1) Notwithstanding ORS 652.140, if an employee has worked for an employer as a seasonal farmworker, whenever the employment terminates, all wages earned and unpaid become due and payable immediately except: (a) Wages are due and payable by noon on the day after termination of th…

(1) Except as provided in subsections (2) and (3) of this section, if an employer willfully fails to pay any wages or compensation of any employee whose employment ceases, as provided in ORS 652.140 and 652.145, then, as a penalty for the nonpayment, the wages or compensation of …

In case of dispute over wages, the employer must pay, without condition, and within the time set by ORS 652.140, all wages conceded by the employer to be due, leaving the employee all remedies the employee might otherwise have or be entitled to as to any balance the employee migh…

In accordance with any applicable provision of ORS chapter 183, the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries may adopt rules to carry out the provisions of ORS 652.140 to 652.160. [1995 c.501 §3]

When any number of employees enter upon a strike, the wages due such striking employees at the time of entering upon such strike shall not become due and payable until the next regular payday after the commencement of such strike, if the time between the commencement of the strik…

All wages earned by an employee, not exceeding $10,000, shall, upon the employee’s death, become due and payable to the employee’s surviving spouse, or if there is no surviving spouse, the dependent children, or their guardians or the conservators of their estates, in equal share…

(1) An employer that issues to an employee a dishonored check for payment of wages due is liable to the employee for the remedies provided in ORS 30.701. (2) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries may assess a …

(1) As used in this section and ORS 652.198: (a) “Authorized third party representative” means a third party that is authorized by an unrepresented employee to assert the rights of the unrepresented employee. (b) “Construction contract” means an express or implied agreement: (A) …

(1) Any subcontractor with which a direct contractor has entered into a contract to perform a portion of a construction project within the scope of a construction contract between the direct contractor and an owner shall provide the following records to the direct contractor and …

(1) In any action for the collection of any order, check, memorandum or other instrument of indebtedness referred to in ORS 652.110, if it is shown that the order, check, memorandum or other instrument of indebtedness was not paid for a period of 48 hours, excluding Saturdays, Su…

As used in ORS 652.210 to 652.235, unless the context requires otherwise: (1)(a) “Compensation” includes wages, salary, bonuses, benefits, fringe benefits and equity-based compensation. (b) “Compensation” does not include vaccine incentives. (2) “Employee” means any individual wh…

(1) It is an unlawful employment practice under ORS chapter 659A for an employer to: (a) In any manner discriminate between employees on the basis of a protected class in the payment of wages or other compensation for work of comparable character. (b) Pay wages or other compensat…

(1) Any employee whose compensation is at a rate that is in violation of ORS 652.220 shall have a right of action against the employer for the recovery of: (a) The amount of the unpaid wages to which the employee is entitled for the one year period preceding the commencement of t…

(1) In a civil action under ORS 652.230 or 659A.885 (1) alleging a violation of ORS 652.220, the employer may file a motion to disallow an award of compensatory and punitive damages. The court shall grant the motion if the employer demonstrates, by a preponderance of the evidence…

Where any statute or contract requires an employer to maintain the designated wage scale, it shall be unlawful to secretly pay a lower wage while purporting to pay the wage designated by statute or by contract. [1957 c.243 §1]

A public employee who takes part without pay in a search or rescue operation at the request of any law enforcement agency, the Department of Transportation, the United States Forest Service or any local organization for civil defense, shall not forfeit wages while engaged in an o…

(1) As used in this section: (a) “Home health care staff” means individuals who provide home health services. “Home health care staff” does not include: (A) Home care workers, as defined in ORS 410.600; (B) Direct caregivers employed by an in-home care agency as defined in ORS 44…

As used in ORS 652.310 to 652.414, unless the context requires otherwise: (1) “Employer” means any person who in this state, directly or through an agent, engages personal services of one or more employees and includes any successor to the business of any employer, or any lessee …

As used in ORS 652.310 to 652.414, unless the context requires otherwise: (1) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries. (2) “Court” means a court of competent jurisdiction and proper venue to entertain a proceeding referred to in ORS 652.310 to …

(1) The Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries shall enforce ORS 652.310 to 652.414 and to that end may: (a) Investigate and attempt equitably to adjust controversies between employers and employees in respect of wage claims or alleged wage claims. (b) Take assignment…

(1) In any case when the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries has received a wage claim complaint which the commissioner could seek to collect through court action, the commissioner may instead elect to seek collection of such claim through administrative proceeding…

(1)(a) If the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries receives a valid wage claim filed against a contractor or a business subject to licensing under ORS chapter 701 for unpaid wages, the commissioner shall notify the Construction Contractors Board and the contractor o…

(1) A person operating a commercial establishment where food is cooked and served who holds a full on-premises sales license issued under ORS 471.175 is liable for all valid wage claims of individuals employed in the kitchen facilities and dining space of such establishment who a…

(1) If upon investigation by the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries, after taking assignments of any wage claims under ORS 652.330, it appears to the commissioner that the employer is representing to employees that the employer is able to pay wages for their servi…

(1) An employer may not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against an employee because: (a) The employee has made a wage claim or discussed, inquired about or consulted an attorney or agency about a wage claim; (b) The employee has caused to be instituted any proceedin…

(1) An employer may not by special contract or any other means exempt the employer from any provision of or liability or penalty imposed by ORS 652.310 to 652.414 or any statute relating to the payment of wages, except insofar as the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Indust…

(1) Justice courts shall have concurrent jurisdiction with circuit courts over all cases mentioned in ORS 652.330 or 652.340. (2) The Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries shall prosecute all legal proceedings on the commissioner’s own official relation, but in the n…

(1) The remedies provided by ORS 652.310 to 652.414 shall be additional to and not in substitution for and in no manner impair other remedies and may be enforced simultaneously or consecutively so far as not inconsistent with each other. (2) No payment or tender after the filing …

(1) The Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries may deduct and retain any moneys collected on each wage claim as costs, attorney fees or commissioner’s penalties. The amount deducted shall be paid into the General Fund after deducting actual costs and disbursements inc…

Subject to ORS 652.390, all moneys collected on civil judgments pursuant to ORS 652.330, or as a result of administrative proceedings pursuant to ORS 652.332, shall be paid to the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries and, together with all other sums collected under…

(1) The Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries shall attempt for a period of not less than three years to make payment of wages collected under ORS 652.310 to 652.414 to the person entitled thereto. (2) By July 30 of each year, the commissioner shall pay wages collect…

(1) The Wage Security Fund is established separate and distinct from the General Fund. After withholding the actual shared costs of the Employment Department under ORS 657.462 (5)(b), all amounts received by the department pursuant to ORS 657.462 (5)(a) shall be paid into the Sta…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law: (1) When an employee files a wage claim under this chapter for wages earned and unpaid, and the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries: (a) Determines that the employer against whom the claim was filed has ceased doing busin…

(1) As used in ORS 652.420 to 652.445: (a) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries. (b) “Labor bureau” includes any agency, bureau, commission, board or officer in another state that performs functions substantially corresponding to those of th…

The Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries may enter into agreements with the corresponding labor bureau of another state for the reciprocal enforcement and collection of wage claims, if the other state has a reciprocal statute similar to ORS 652.420 to 652.445 or oth…