Oregon Labor Laws 2024 | Wage and Hour Laws in Oregon

Oregon labor laws, including Oregon labor laws 2024, impact the daily lives of employees and employers in Oregon. Residents of Oregon have many questions that affect them every day regarding Oregon labor laws from minimum wage rates, overtime, wage payments, vacation and sick leave, child labor, meal and rest breaks, and more.

In addition to Oregon labor laws, employer must also comply with federal labor laws such as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), and many other federal laws. And when federal laws are different from state Oregon labor laws, usually companies must comply with the law that provides their workers the best protection.

Below we provide comprehensive information and resources regarding your more pressing Oregon labor law questions to help you answer the question and help you make the right decision about you and your employment.

1. Minimum Wage
2. Overtime
3. Prevailing Wages
4. Meals and Breaks
5. Nursing Mother Breaks
6. Vacation Leave
7. Sick Leave
8. Oregon Family Leave Law
9. Family and Medical Leave Act
10. Holiday Leave
11. Jury Duty Leave
12. Voting Leave
13. Severance Pay
14. Unemployment
15. Other Oregon Labor Laws Topics and Resources
16. Other State’s Labor Law and Wage and Hour Information

• Child labor laws
• Hours worked
• Leave laws
• Minimum wage laws
• Minimum wage and overtime exemptions
• Overtime
• Wage and hour laws
• Wage payment laws
• All Oregon Employment Law Topic

Minimum Wage

Oregon’s current minimum wage depends on where you work in the state. Also, Oregon’s minimum wage are adjusted each July. For more information on Oregon’s minimum wage laws, visit our Oregon Minimum Wage Laws page, which includes topics such as minimum wage, tip minimum wage, tip sharing and pooling, and subminimum wages.

Additionally, employers are required to comply with federal laws regarding minimum wage set forth in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Overtime

Oregon labor laws require an employer to pay overtime, unless otherwise exempt, at the rate of one and a half times the employee’s regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek. OR Bureau of Labor FAQs: Overtime.

Overtime pay rules under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) may also apply. For federally-defined exemptions and other regulations see FLSA: Overtime for more information.

Prevailing Wages

Under certain circumstances, you may be required to pay Oregon residents wage rates established by the federal or state prevailing wage rates and rules. The prevailing wage rates may be different from the state’s standard minimum wage rates.

Employees may be eligible for prevailing wages if they work on federal or state government or government-funded construction projects or perform certain federal or state government services. See the Oregon Prevailing Wages, Davis-Bacon and Related Acts, McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act (SCA), and Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act (PCA) for more information about prevailing wages.

Meals and Breaks

Meal periods

Oregon labor laws require employers to provide workers with at least one 30-minute unpaid and uninterrupted meal period when the work period is six (6) hours or greater. If they require the employee to work at any time during meal periods, they must pay the employees for the entire 30-minute period. Employers must provide meal periods to employees based on the number of hours they work as follows:

• 0 to 6 hours – 0 meal periods
• 6 to 14 hours – 1 meal period
• 14 to 22 hours – 2 meal periods
• 22 to 24 hours – 3 meal periods

Employers must allow employees to take their meal periods according to the following time requirements:

• If they work seven (7) hours or less, the meal period must begin no earlier than the conclusion of the second hour worked and end no later than the commencement of the fifth hour of work
• If they work more than seven (7) hours, the first meal period must begin no earlier than the conclusion of the third hour worked and end no later than the commencement of the sixth hour of work

Except for those who are under the age of 18, employers may require employees to work through their meal periods if they show that to do so would impose an undue hardship on the employers’ operations and they comply with the requirements listed below.

• The employers provide adequate paid periods in which to rest, consume a meal, and use the restroom;
• The employers first have each employee sign a notice and waiver issued by the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries regarding rest and meal periods; and
• The employers retain and keep available to the commissioner a copy of the notice for the duration of the employee’s employment and for no less than six months after the termination date of the employee.

For the purpose of determining whether providing a meal period requires undue hardship, the following factors may be considered:

• The employer’s cost of complying with the meal period requirements.
• The employer’s overall financial resources.
• The number of individuals employed at a particular worksite and their qualifications and ability to relieve other employees who are taking meal breaks.
• The total number of persons employed by the employer.
• The number, type, and geographic separateness of the employer’s worksites.
• The effect of providing the meal period on worksite operations involving: the startup or shutdown of machinery in continuous-operation industrial processes; intermittent and unpredictable workflow not in the control of the employer or employee; the perishable nature of materials used on the job; and the safety and health of other employees, patients, clients or the public.

Employers may also require employees, except those under the age of 18, to work through their meal periods or provide shorter meal periods if they show:

• There is an industry practice or custom where employers provide paid meal periods that last less than 30 minutes (but no less than 20 minutes) during which the employees are relieved of all duty; or
• They failed to provide meal periods because there were unforeseeable equipment failures, acts of nature, or other exceptional and unanticipated circumstances that only rarely and temporarily preclude them from allowing their workers to take meal periods. In these situations, employers must pay employees for the entire 30-minute meal period even if they were able to take a portion of it.

Oregon labor laws allow employees to waive their right to take a meal period if the following requirements are met:

• The employees are employed to serve food or beverages, receives tips, and reports the tips to their employers;
• The employees are at least 18 years of age;
• The employees voluntarily request to waive their meal periods after having worked for the employers no less than seven (7) calendar days;
• The employees request to waive their meal periods using waiver request forms issued by the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries that are signed and dated by both the employees and employers;
• The employers retain and keep available for inspection copies of the employees’ requests to waive their meal periods for as long as the employees work for the employers plus at least an additional six (6) months after the separation from employment;
• The employers provide the employees with reasonable opportunities to consume food during any work period of six (6) hours or more while continuing to work;
• The employers pay the employees for any and all meal periods during which the employees are not completely relieved of all duties;
• The employers do not require the employees to work longer than eight hours without receiving a 30-minute meal period during which the employees are relieved of all duties;
• The employers make and keep available for inspection accurate records of hours worked by each employee that clearly indicate whether or not the employee has received meal periods;
• The employers post notices provided by the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries regarding rest and meal periods in a conspicuous and accessible place where all employees can view it; and
• The employers do not coerce employees to waive their right to meal periods

Employees who have requested to waive their meal periods may at any time request to take a meal period without revoking the agreement to waive the meal periods generally. Those who would like to take meal periods without revoking their signed waiver must request to take meal periods in writing at least 24 hours before they would like to take the meal periods. OR Admin. Rules 839-020-0050(8)(c)

Either the employers or employees may revoke the meal period waivers by providing at least seven (7) days written notice to the other. OR Admin. Rules 839-020-0050(8)(b)

Break periods

Oregon labor laws require employers to provide workers 18 years of age and over with paid, uninterrupted 10-minute rest breaks for every four (4) hour segment or major portion thereof that they work in a work period. Employers must provide workers under the age of 18 with paid, uninterrupted 15-minute rest breaks for every four (4) hour segment or major portion thereof that they work in a work period. OR Admin. Rules 839-020-0050(6)(a)

Employees should allow employees to take their rest breaks in the middle of each four (4) hour segment, whenever possible. They must provide rest periods in addition to and taken separately from meal periods. They may not require or allow employees to add their rest periods meal periods or deduct the rest period from the beginning or end of the employees’ work periods to reduce the overall length of the work period. Oregon labor law places the burden on employers to show that they provided the required rest periods. OR Admin. Rules 839-020-0050(6)(a)

Employers are not required to provide rest periods to employees when all of the following conditions are met:

• The employees are 18 years of age or older;
• The employees work less than five hours in any period of 16 continuous hours;
• The employees are working alone;
• The employees are employed in a retail or service establishment, i.e., a place where goods and services are sold to the general public, not for resale; and
• The employers allow the employees to leave their assigned stations when the employees need to use the restroom facilities.

Work period defined

For purposes of meal and break period rules, work periods are the period between the time employees begin work and the time they end work. They include:

• rest periods
• any period of one (1) hour or less, other than a designated meal period, during which the employees are relieved of all duties
• meal periods where employees are paid because the employees not relieved of all duties for the duration of the meal periods

Meal periods where employees are relieved of all duties are not included in the meaning of work period. OR Admin. Rules 839-020-0050(11)

Nursing Mother Breaks

Oregon labor laws require employers to allow employees who are nursing mothers to take reasonable breaks to express milk for up to 18 months after the birth of the child. Employees, if feasible, shall take the nursing mother breaks to express milk at the same time as the meal or rest periods they are otherwise provided by the employer. If not feasible, the employer must permit the employee to take unpaid nursing mother breaks each time the employee needs to express milk.

Employers are required to make reasonable efforts to provide employees who are nursing mothers with a private location within close proximity to the employee’s work area to express milk. A private location is a place, other than a public restroom or toilet stall, in close proximity to the employee’s work area for the employee to express milk concealed from view and without intrusion by other employees or the public.

The following rules and limitations also apply:

• If an employee takes unpaid rest periods, the employer may, but is not required to, allow the employee to work before or after the employee’s normal shift to make up the amount of time used during the unpaid rest periods. If the employee does not work to make up the amount of time used during the unpaid rest periods, the employer is not required to compensate the employee for that time.A room connected to a public restroom, such as a lounge, if the room allows the employee to express milk concealed from view and without intrusion by other employees or the public.
• An employer may not require an employee, including an employee who is FLSA exempt, to substitute paid leave time for unpaid rest periods provided in compliance with these rules.

An employer with ten (10) or fewer employees is not required to provide nursing mother breaks if doing so would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the employer’s business.

When possible, an employee who intends to express milk during work hours must give the employer reasonable oral or written notice of the employee’s intention to allow the employer time to make the preparations necessary for compliance with OR Statute 653.077 and these rules. Failure to give notice is not grounds for discipline.

An employer must notify all employees, through its policies or other means, of the person or entity to whom an employee should give notice of intent to express milk. If the employer does not provide such notification, the employee’s oral or written notice to a supervisor, manager, or human resource or personnel department or their staff will be presumed sufficient.

Nursing mothers are responsible for storing their expressed milk. The employer must allow the employee to bring a cooler or another insulated food container to work for storing the expressed milk and ensure there is adequate space in the workplace to accommodate the employee’s cooler or insulated food container. If the employer allows employees access to refrigeration for personal use, the employer may allow, but cannot require, an employee who expresses milk during work hours to use the available refrigeration to store the expressed milk.

Vacation Leave

There is no Oregon laws stating that employers must offer their employers vacation days in Oregon. However, if an employer does provide vacation days as a part of the employment contract, the final paycheck has to include payment for all unused vacation days that an employee was entitled to receive under the contract.

However, there is also a use-it or lose-it policy in place. If expressly stated, employees have to use vacation days by a specific date, or they will be lost.

Information about Oregon vacation leave laws may now be found on our Oregon Leave Laws page.

Sick Leave

Employees in Oregon are entitled to receive paid sick time if the employer has 10 employees or more. The sick leave law is enforced by the Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries. If the company has fewer than 10 employees in Oregon employers must provide unpaid sick time to employees. Regardless of company size, employers must provide up to one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours per year.

An eligible employee may take sick leave:

• to care for themself or a family member who has a illness, injury, or health condition or need for preventive medical care.
• within 12 months, to care for an infant, newly adopted child under 18 years of age, a newly placed foster child under 18 years of age, or an adopted or foster child older than 18 years of age if the child is incapable of self-care because of a mental or physical disability.
• Absences related to being a victim of domestic violence, harassment, sexual assault or stalking.
• In the event of a public health emergency.

Employers must keep employees updated regarding the sick time they have earned. Employees can start taking sick time once they have worked for their employers for 90 days.

In Portland, Oregon, employers must provide paid sick leave to employees if they have six or more employees.

Information about Oregon sick leave laws may now be found on our Oregon Leave Laws page.

Oregon Family Leave Law

Oregon requires employers to provide eligible employees with unpaid family leave. The Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA) applies to the private and the public sectors. For purposes of the OFLA, family members include:

• A spouse or domestic partner;
• A child or the child’s spouse or domestic partner;
• A parent or the parent’s spouse or domestic partner;
• A sibling or step-sibling or the sibling’s or step-sibling’s spouse or domestic partner;
• A grandparent or the grandparent’s spouse or domestic partner;
• A grandchild or the grandchild’s spouse or domestic partner;
• Any individual related by blood or affinity whose close association with a covered individual is the equivalent of a family relationship.

Employees are entitled for unpaid leave for various reasons, including the following:

Parental Leave

Parental leave is leave employers must allow eligible employees to take after the birth, adoption, foster placement of a child. Under parental leave, employees are entitled to take to up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year. Also, if an employee uses 12 weeks of parental leave, the leave is not counted as sick child leave and the employee may take an additional 12 weeks for sick child leave purposes.

Serious Health Condition Leave

Serious health condition leave is leave employers must allow eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year so they may care for the employee or employee’s family member’s serious health condition.

Pregnancy Disability Leave

Pregnancy disability Leave is leave employers must allow eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year either before or after the birth of a child or for prenatal care. Also, the leave taken for pregnancy disability is independent of any other leave taken under the OFLA, thus, employees may be able to take additional leave for other purposes such as parental leave, serious health condition leave, and sick child leave.

Sick Child Leave

Sick child leave is leave employers must allow eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year to care for a child who is ill or injury even if the child’s condition does not qualify as a serious health condition. Also, employers must allow employees to take sick child leave if the child’s school or childcare provider is closed due to a public health emergency.

Military Family Leave

Military family leave is leave employer must allow eligible employees to take up to 14 days of unpaid leave per year if the employee’s spouse or domestic partner is called to active duty or is on leave from active duty.

Bereavement Leave

Oregon requires certain employers with 25 or more employees to provide employees with up to two (2) weeks due to the death of a family member. Employers with fewer than 25 employees are not required to provide either paid or unpaid bereavement leave. For more information, please visit our page discussing Oregon’s Bereavement Leave Law.

Family and Medical Leave Act

Employers with more that 50 employees within 75 mile radius may be required to allow employees to take up to 12 weeks of leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Employers may count leave taken under the FMLA towards its leave time requirements under the OFLA.

Holiday Leave

In Oregon, a private employer may dictate employee work holidays, but there is no law stating that employers must provide employees with off time for any holidays. Moreover, private employers are not required to provide premium pay to employees for working during holidays.

For state employees, various state and federal holidays, such as Martin Luther King Jr. Day, President’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, and others, may qualify for holiday leave.

Information about Oregon holiday leave laws may now be found on our Oregon Leave Laws page.

Jury Duty Leave

Employees working in Oregon must attend jury duty if they are summoned. It is unlawful for an employer to discharge you for jury duty. If an employer attempts to coerce an employee to avoid jury duty in favor of work, the employee may take legal action against the employer.

However, no statutory law requires employers to pay any wages or salary during an employee’s jury duty. An employer may also not use your annual leave, sick leave, or vacation time for jury duty.

Information about Oregon jury duty leave laws may now be found on our Oregon Leave Laws page.

Voting Leave

No law in Oregon states that employers must grant their employees leave, unpaid or paid, to vote. However, if an employer enforces this, employees must vote on their own time.

Information about Oregon voting leave laws may now be found on our Oregon Leave Laws page.

Severance Pay

Oregon labor laws do not require employers to provide employees with severance benefits. If an employer chooses to provide severance benefits, it must comply with the terms of its established policy or employment contract.

In Oregon, employers are not required to offer severance pay to employees they terminate. However, if the company has established severance pay policies in the employment contract, the company is obligated to adhere to that contract. However, whether or not there is a severance pay package for employees depends solely on the company.

Unemployment

Under certain circumstances, Oregon residents may be eligible for unemployment benefits while they search for another job. You are required to certify that you are unemployed on a weekly basis to receive these benefits.

Oregon provides unemployment insurance as long as they meet various requirements. To qualify for unemployment insurance, a person must be unemployed and not currently working. In addition, they must have worked in Oregon during the past 12 to 18 months.

The person must have also worked a minimum number of hours or earned minimum wages during that time as determined by the state. In addition, people seeking unemployment insurance must be able to work, available for work, and actively seek employment each week that benefits are being collected.

They must have earned at least $1,000 in wages during the base period or have worked at least 500 hours during the base period. In addition, to qualify for unemployment insurance, a person must also be out of work due to no fault of their own and are not eligible for quitting the job of their own volition.

Other Oregon Labor Laws Topics and Resources

There are several other laws governing the employers and their workplaces. Below are those topics and resources:

• Oregon Child Labor Laws cover topics including work during school hours and summer hours, school days and summer days, hour restrictions, and hazardous occupations.
• Discrimination and human rights are enforced by the Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries. It offers protections and violations, including failure to provide reasonable accommodations, based on the following:

• Oregon requires employers to pay equal wages and other compensation to employees regardless of their gender, race, age, or other protected characteristic. It also prohibits employers from relying on the wage history of applicants or prospective employees when making hiring decisions.
• Oregon wage payment laws including covering frequency and manner of wage payments, regular paydays, pay periods, deductions, direct deposit and payroll cards, pay statements, record keeping, final paychecks, and notice requirements.
• Minimum wage and overtime exemptions covering non-exempt employees and exempt employees.
• Hours worked including rest breaks, meal breaks, on-call, waiting, travel, sleeping, and meeting times.
• Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) that covers federal workplace safety and health requirements.
• Active employees, including those in the national guard, and veterans may also be eligible for military leave under the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).
• Employers with at least 500 employees worldwide in the retail, hospitality and food service must comply with Oregon’s predictive scheduling rules. It requires employer to provide employees with written work schedules at least 14 calendar days in advanced of the first day of the schedule. Employers who require employees to work without giving 14 days notice may be required to pay the employees a predictably pay penalty.