Now that we are in the middle of the summer and busy with summer activities, you may or may not have heard that the 2017 Oregon legislative session has ended. Is some ways it has been a busy year for the Oregon legislators. Below is a summary of the significant business law changes, as well as a link to the actual law:
Predictable Scheduling (SB 828) – This law is proposed and affects employers who have at least 500 employees worldwide. This bill has been passed and is currently waiting for signature on the governor’s desk. If the law goes into effect, beginning as of January 1, 2018, employers will be required to provide newly hired employees with a written good faith estimate of the employee’s work schedule. In addition, affected employers will be required to provide employees with a written work schedule at least 7 days prior to the first day of the work schedule.
Oregon Sick Leave Law Revisions (SB 299) – This law is a follow up to the Sick Leave Law passed a few years ago and went into effect on January 1, 2016. It clarifies some ambiguities within the law such as; employers can limit both accrual and usage of Oregon sick leave to 40 hours per year. For employers who comply with the sick leave law requirements through a Paid Time Off (PTO) policy, the new law clarifies that only the first 40 hours of time used must be protected; the remaining time allowed under a PTO policy will be subject to the employer’s leave requirements. Finally, the new law removes certain corporate directors, LLC members, LLP partners and sole proprietors from the definition of “employee.” This law will affect the sick leave accrued and used on or after January 1, 2018.
Equal Pay (HB 2005) – This law was passed to ensure that there is no discrimination occurring when employers set the pay for their employees. The majority of this law will go into effect on January 1, 2019; however, there is one provision that will go into effect on October 6, 2017. Beginning October 6, it will be unlawful for employers to ask an applicant or existing employee for that person’s pay history. Although there is a provision that allows an employer to seek written authorization from a job applicant for consent to confirm prior pay history, the employer can only ask for this consent AFTER the employer has made a job offer that includes a pay amount. The remaining sections of the new law are focused on making discrimination through wages illegal and include factors that can and cannot be considered when setting an employee’s pay.
Prohibit False Statements Regarding Payroll Information (HB 3008) – This new law states that employers cannot compel, coerce or induce or attempt to induce an employee to create, file or sign any document that contains information regarding that employee’s hours worked or compensation received that the employer knows is false.
Notice of Earned Income Credit (SB 398) – Beginning October 6, 2017, Oregon employers will be required to provide annual written notice to each employee, with the employee’s federal Form W-2, of available state and federal income tax credits. This is a general notice and is not intended to notify each employee whether that employee is eligible for any type of income tax credit. The notice must include the website addresses for the IRS and the Oregon Department of Revenue where the employee can find additional information about the state and federal earned income tax credits.
If you have any questions please contact Isler CPA and ask for Glenn Munro, Joseph Lewis or Eric Bell.