Title 51, Labor and Employment; Unlawful Discrimination

(1)(a) The Employment Department shall be under the supervision and control of a director appointed by the Governor. (b) The term of office of the Director of the Employment Department is four years, but the director may be removed at any time during a term at the pleasure of the…

The Director of the Employment Department may: (1) For purposes of administration and control, and with the approval of the Governor, organize and reorganize the department in whatever manner the director considers appropriate to carry out the duties, functions and powers of the …

The Director of the Employment Department may: (1) Carry on investigations of the operation of unemployment insurance in Oregon, including related subjects and publish the results thereof. (2) Investigate the operations of the fund, the relation of contribution rates to the risks…

(1) The Director of the Employment Department shall, from time to time, after investigation, reasonable public notice, and a public hearing at which any interested party is afforded an opportunity to be heard, determine or redetermine what amount of reserve reasonably is needed i…

(1) The Director of the Employment Department shall cause to be printed in proper form for distribution the classification, rates, rules, regulations and rules of procedure and furnish the same to any person upon application therefor. The fact that such classifications, rates, ru…

The Director of the Employment Department may act in the director’s own behalf or by any of the duly authorized agents or assistants of the director in the following: (1) To hold sessions at any place within the state. (2) To administer oaths. (3) To issue and serve by the direct…

The circuit court for any county or the judge thereof, on application of the Director of the Employment Department or any of the assistants of the director, shall compel obedience to subpoenas issued and served pursuant to ORS 657.630 and punish disobedience of any such subpoena …

Upon request of the Director of the Employment Department, the Attorney General or, under the direction of the Attorney General, the district attorney of any county, shall institute or prosecute actions or proceedings for the enforcement of this chapter, when such actions or proc…

(1) In any case in which the Director of the Employment Department may bring a civil action for the collection of taxes, interest and penalties under this chapter, the Employment Department may instead: (a) Assess a collection charge of $5 if the sum of the tax, penalty and inter…

In any case in which a judgment is rendered in favor of the Employment Department for amounts due under this chapter, the Director of the Employment Department may issue a warrant to collect the amount of the judgment. [2005 c.336 §2]

In any action, suit or proceeding brought by or against the Director of the Employment Department a certificate attested to by the director or the authorized representative of the director showing the amount of contributions, interest and penalties due from an employing unit shal…

If the original of any record, file, order, proceeding, decision, award or other document on file with the Employment Department is competent and admissible in evidence, a certified copy thereof furnished by the Director of the Employment Department under the seal of the departme…

(1) Subject to the approval of the Director of the Oregon Department of Administrative Services, the Director of the Employment Department may acquire by purchase office buildings, make alterations, modifications or additions thereto, and purchase land and construct thereon offic…

(1) Every employing unit shall keep true and accurate records of all persons employed by it and such records of hours worked, wages paid and other statistics as prescribed by the Director of the Employment Department for the administration of this chapter. (2) Such records shall …

(1) If an employer fails to file a quarterly tax report or quarterly report of employees’ wages and hours of work by the 10th day of the second month following the end of the calendar quarter, the Director of the Employment Department, for the first such failure, shall send to th…

(1) Except as provided in subsections (2) to (5) of this section, all information in the records of the Employment Department pertaining to the administration of the unemployment insurance, employment service and workforce and labor market information programs: (a) Is confidentia…

(1) As used in this section: (a) “Wage information” means the amount of wages as reported to the Employment Department by each employer as earned by a particular individual during the period, not to exceed 15 recorded quarters preceding the quarter in which the request for disclo…

(1) Upon motion of the Director of the Employment Department or upon application of an interested employer, the director may reconsider a determination of employer subjectivity, tax rate or tax assessment, irrespective of whether the determination has become final. The director m…

A determination of the Director of the Employment Department or the authorized representative of the director: (1) As to whether an employing unit is an employer subject to this chapter, or (2) That services performed by an individual for an employer liable for reimbursement paym…

(1) If an employer files a report for the purpose of determining the amount of contributions due under this chapter but fails to pay contributions or interest, the Director of the Employment Department or authorized representative may assess the amount of contributions or interes…

(1) As used in this section, “reorganized business entity” means a business entity that, while operating substantially the same business as the employer, has been converted to a different form of business entity from that of the employer or has changed ownership from that of the …

(1) An application for hearing under ORS 657.480, 657.679, 657.681 or 657.682 shall be in writing and shall state that a determination or assessment of the Director of the Employment Department or authorized representative is unjust or incorrect and that the employing unit reques…

Judicial review of decisions under ORS 657.683 shall be as provided for review of orders in contested cases in ORS chapter 183, except that the petition shall be filed within 20 days after the order is final. The Director of the Employment Department may file petition for judicia…

(1) The Employment Appeals Board hereby is created within the Employment Department. (2) The Employment Appeals Board consists of three members who shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the Governor. Except for pro tempore appointments, appointments of members are su…

The Employment Appeals Board has the power: (1) To hold sessions any place within the state. (2) To administer oaths. (3) To issue and serve, or by any sheriff, subpoenas for the attendance of employers or claimants and the production of papers, contracts, books, accounts, docume…

(1) To assist the Director of the Employment Department in the effective development of policies and programs with respect to unemployment insurance and employment service and in securing to this state the benefits of the Wagner-Peyser Act, and particularly with respect to carryi…

The Director of the Employment Department may also appoint committees, and industrial or other special councils, to perform appropriate services in connection with the development of unemployment insurance and employment service programs who shall serve without compensation. [For…

(1) The Employment Department shall: (a) Update the department’s webpage to encourage volunteering and provide links to state and federal volunteering opportunities. (b) Post the following statement on the webpages of the department and the unemployment insurance division of the …

There is created under the Director of the Employment Department a division, to be known as the Oregon State Employment Service, which shall be affiliated with the United States Employment Service. Such division shall be administered by a person well qualified by technical traini…

(1) The Director of the Employment Department shall establish and maintain such free public employment offices, including such branch or affiliate offices, as may be necessary for the proper administration of this chapter and for participation in Oregon’s workforce development sy…

The State of Oregon hereby accepts the provisions of the Act of Congress approved June 6, 1933, entitled “An act to provide for the establishment of a national employment system and for cooperation with the states in the promotion of such system, and for other purposes.”

(1) The Director of the Employment Department is designated and constituted the agency of this state for the purpose of the Wagner-Peyser Act. The director shall cooperate with all authorities of the United States having powers and duties under the Wagner-Peyser Act and do and pe…

The Director of the Employment Department may divide the state into such number of employment districts as the director finds necessary and maintain a district office in each of said districts. INFORMATION SYSTEMS

(1) As used in this section, unless the context requires otherwise: (a) “Labor market area” means an economically integrated geographic area within which individuals can reside and find employment within a reasonable distance or can readily change employment without changing thei…

(1) As used in this section: (a) “Public body” has the meaning given that term in ORS 192.311. (b) “System participant” means: (A) Mandatory partners under the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and other one-stop system partners, which may include public bodies and…

If the Employment Department becomes aware in the normal course of business that an employer has contracted with the United States to conduct forest maintenance activity on federal forestland in this state and is not in compliance with the requirements under 20 C.F.R. 655 for H-2…

(1) If an employer lists an available forest maintenance activity job under a federal H-2B certification for temporary nonagricultural work with the Employment Department, the department shall: (a) Confirm with the employer whether the job is open to Oregon resident workers; (b) …

The Director of the Employment Department shall: (1) Cooperate in all necessary respects with the appropriate agencies and departments of the federal government in the administration of this chapter and of free public employment offices. (2) Make the state’s records relating to t…

(1) The Employment Department is authorized to cooperate with or enter into agreements with appropriate agencies of the federal government whereby: (a) The Director of the Employment Department may act as agent of the federal government, in the payment of subsistence or other cas…

The Director of the Employment Department may enter into agreements with the appropriate agencies of other states or the federal government whereby: (1) Potential rights to benefits accumulated under the unemployment insurance laws of the several states or under such a law of the…

Whenever the unemployment insurance laws of other states provide for inclusion of out-of-state payment of wages in computing wages paid in like manner as provided in ORS 657.095 (2), the Director of the Employment Department may enter into agreements with those empowered to admin…

(1) The Director of the Employment Department may enter into reciprocal arrangements with appropriate and duly authorized agencies of other states or of the federal government, or both, whereby wages, upon the basis of which an individual may become entitled to benefits under an …

(1) The courts of the State of Oregon shall recognize and enforce the liability for unemployment insurance contributions imposed by other states which extend a like comity to this state, and officials of such other states may initiate civil proceedings in the courts of this state…

(1) As used in this section, “appropriate agency” means an agency authorized to enforce child support obligations pursuant to a plan approved under part D of title IV of the Social Security Act. (2) Notwithstanding ORS 657.855, the Director of the Employment Department may enter …

(1) There is established in the State Treasury, separate and distinct from the General Fund, the Supplemental Employment Department Administration Fund. The Supplemental Employment Department Administration Fund shall consist of moneys collected or received by the Employment Depa…

(1) The Director of the Employment Department may enter into an agreement or agreements with any other state’s employment security agency, or group thereof, including the Interstate Reciprocal Overpayment Recovery Arrangement, for the mutual and reciprocal recovery of overpaid un…

There hereby is created the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund. The fund shall consist of: (1) All contributions received and collected under this chapter. (2) Interest earned upon any moneys in the fund. (3) Any property or securities acquired through the use of moneys belongi…

(1) The Governor of the State of Oregon is hereby authorized in the discretion of the Governor to make necessary application to the Secretary of Labor of the United States to obtain an advance or advances pursuant to title XII of the Social Security Act, as amended. (2) The Direc…

(1) All moneys received for the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund under ORS 657.805 shall be deposited with the State Treasurer subject to ORS 657.830. (2) All moneys in the fund shall be mingled and undivided and shall be administered by the Director of the Employment Departm…

(1) Money credited to the account of this state in the Unemployment Trust Fund by the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States of America pursuant to section 903 of the Social Security Act, as amended, may be requisitioned and used for the payment of expenses incurred for t…