As 2024 wraps up and we look forward to 2025, below is a summary of upcoming changes in employment law that may impact employers in Oregon, Washington, and California. Many of the following updates go into effect on January...more
12/20/2024
/ California ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Oregon ,
Paid Leave ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Washington
In a unanimous opinion issued last Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court clarified the standard that employers must use to measure the burden of an employee’s religious accommodation request. The case is Groff v. DeJoy, No....more
7/7/2023
/ Civil Rights Act ,
De Minimus Doctrine ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Groff v DeJoy ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Substantial Burden ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship
On May 10, 2023, the Oregon Health Authority (“OHA”) announced that, effective May 11, it is suspending the statewide rule requiring that healthcare workers be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 unless they have an approved...more
Oregon’s paid leave program (providing up to 12+ weeks of paid family, medical, and safe leave to eligible employees per leave year) will be here soon. Almost all businesses with employees in Oregon are required to...more
As we blogged about on September 9, 2021, President Biden announced sweeping new vaccine requirements that will impact millions of employees across the country, including...more
9/30/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Health and Safety ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
To address the on-going COVID-19 pandemic and the recent Delta variant surge, President Biden announced yesterday that he will implement sweeping new requirements to increase vaccination rates across the country. Among the...more
As we previously wrote about, the State of Oregon and Multnomah County are each imposing new indoor mask requirements beginning today, August 13, 2021, in response to the escalating COVID-19 pandemic driven by the Delta...more
Governor Kate Brown announced today that the State of Oregon would impose a state-wide mask mandate that applies to indoor spaces (effective date to be determined). It is unclear at this time whether employers will be...more
Just before we headed off for the holiday weekend, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) released updated guidance related to the COVID-19 vaccine. The guidance largely tracks earlier guidance and...more
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed the Protecting the Right to Organize (“PRO”) Act, which would make sweeping union-friendly changes to the three primary federal laws that govern private-sector...more
The October 1, 2020 deadline for Oregon employers to update their non-discrimination policies is approaching. In 2019, the Oregon Legislature passed the Workplace Fairness Act (the “Act”), which made significant changes to...more
As restrictions are easing, employers are planning for and starting to bring people back to work. In these extraordinary times, everyone recognizes that things will not be business as usual. Here is our “Top 10” checklist...more
SB 123, just passed by the legislature and signed by Governor Brown, makes several amendments to Oregon’s pay equity law. Most notable are the revisions to the limited affirmative defense available to employers in litigation....more
8/15/2019
/ Affirmative Defenses ,
Amended Legislation ,
Emotional Distress Damages ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Pay ,
Governor Brown ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Punitive Damages ,
Safe Harbors ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
On Monday, we blogged about the first of two recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions interpreting Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”), University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar. Today, we’ll...more
7/12/2013
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Harassment ,
Race Discrimination ,
Retaliation ,
SCOTUS ,
Supervisors ,
Title VII ,
UT Southwestern Medical v Nassar ,
Vance v. Ball State University ,
Vicarious Liability