Title 51, Labor and Employment; Unlawful Discrimination

As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise: (1) “Bureau” means the Bureau of Labor and Industries. (2) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries. [Amended by 1979 c.659 §1; 1987 c.158 §123] BUREAU OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIES; COMM…

The Bureau of Labor and Industries hereby is established as a separate department of this state. [Amended by 1979 c.659 §2]

(1) The Bureau of Labor and Industries shall be under the control of the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries which office hereby is created. (2) The Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries shall be elected for a term of four years. (3) The Commissioner o…

(1) The Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries shall, before entering upon the duties of the office of the commissioner, execute a bond to the state in the sum of $5,000, conditioned upon the faithful, honest and impartial performance of the duties under ORS 651.030, …

The Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries shall cause to be enforced: (1) All laws regulating the employment of adults and minors. (2) All laws established for the protection of the health, lives and limbs of persons employed in workshops, factories, mills and other …

(1) The Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries may conduct investigations, issue subpoenas and subpoenas duces tecum, administer oaths, obtain evidence and take testimony in all matters relating to the duties required under ORS 279C.800 to 279C.870, 651.030, 651.050, …

(1) If, upon entry of judgment and expiration of any time period for timely filing of notice of appeal, an amount due to the Bureau of Labor and Industries is not paid within 30 days of the date payment becomes due, and no provision has been made to secure the payment, the Commis…

(1) The Bureau of Labor and Industries shall prepare a model respectful workplace policy that employers may adopt. In preparing the model policy, the bureau shall take into consideration existing respectful workplace policies. (2) The bureau shall create informational materials t…

The Employer Assistance Division is established within the Bureau of Labor and Industries. The purpose of the division is to provide education, training and interpretive guidance, including advisory opinions, to employers to assist employers in complying with laws that are enforc…

(1) As used in this section: (a) “Advisory opinion” has the meaning given that term in ORS 651.100. (b)(A) “Discussion communications” means: (i) All communications, written and oral, that are made in the course of or in connection with a discussion between an employer and the Em…

(1) As used in this section and ORS 651.080, “advisory opinion” means written guidance: (a) On the interpretation or application of a provision of law over which the Bureau of Labor and Industries has enforcement authority to an actual or hypothetical circumstance. (b) Concerning…

The Bureau of Labor and Industries may assist and cooperate with the United States Department of Labor in the enforcement within this state of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Subject to the regulations of the United States Department of Labor and the laws of this state appl…

(1) The Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries may: (a) Enter any factory, mill, office, workshop, or public or private works, at any reasonable time, for the purpose of gathering facts such as are contemplated by ORS 279C.850, 652.330, 653.045 and 659A.835. (b) Exami…

(1) Notwithstanding any provision of law governing the confidentiality or disclosure of information, the Bureau of Labor and Industries may enter into an interagency agreement with a state agency to receive from the state agency a business name, address, electronic mail address, …

(1) The Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries may enter into a settlement with respect to any violation of a provision of law over which the Bureau of Labor and Industries has jurisdiction. The commissioner may take steps to settle the matter through conference, medi…

(1) There hereby is established in the General Fund in the State Treasury an account to be known as the Bureau of Labor and Industries Account. Except as otherwise provided by law, all fees of whatever kind, and moneys received or collected by the Bureau of Labor and Industries, …

The Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries may incur such expense and employ such clerical aids as may be necessary to carry out ORS 651.030, 651.050, 651.060 and 651.120. The Oregon Department of Administrative Services may draw warrants on the State Treasurer for th…

The Prevailing Wage Education and Enforcement Account is created in the General Fund of the State Treasury. All moneys in the account are appropriated continuously to the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries to: (1) Administer and provide investigations under and en…

(1) As used in this section: (a) “Hospital” has the meaning given that term in ORS 442.015. (b) “Report” means any report or survey showing the demographics of an employer’s workforce by race, ethnicity, sex and job categories, that is required by: (A) The United States Equal Emp…

(1) Civil penalties under ORS 651.190 shall be imposed in accordance with ORS 183.745 and may not exceed $500 for each day of noncompliance. (2) All sums collected as civil penalties under this section must first be applied toward reimbursement of the costs incurred in determinin…

As used in this section and ORS 651.205: (1) “Live entertainment” means a presentation given in major part by humans to a live audience. (2) “Live entertainment facility” means a place of public accommodation: (a) That contains 600 or fewer fixed seats; (b) That is operated for p…

(1) The operator of a live entertainment facility shall display the poster developed by the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries under subsection (2) of this section in a conspicuous manner in a sufficient number of places in the establishment to be read by all pers…

(1) Willful neglect or refusal by any person subpoenaed under ORS 651.060 to attend or testify at the time and place named in the subpoena is a Class C misdemeanor. (2) Violation of ORS 651.120 (2) is a Class C misdemeanor. [Amended by 1983 c.740 §240; 2011 c.597 §262] __________…

(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…