The Oregon Labor Laws outlines the basic employment requirements for any employee to be a lawful employee. These labor laws are designed to prevent any employer from doing illegal activities that would make it unlawful for an employee to work at an employer’s establishment. This includes such things as threatening an employee with dismissal or termination if he or she does not perform an illegal act, intentionally allowing a worker to work under conditions that are not in line with the Oregon Labor Laws, or discriminating against an employee by gender, race, disability, religion, sexual orientation, or age.
Oregon Labor Laws
- Most of the labor laws have their own specific regulations and procedures. The most important of these are Oregon laws on wages and overtime pay. Other laws include Oregon laws on minimum wage, child labor laws, and other specific employment laws. Each of these can be found in the Oregon Labor Code.
- The first requirement of the law that a person is expected to follow is the regulation on minimum wage. This is the state level rate of any wage that is not below the statutory minimum wage. This law was made to help reduce poverty among workers, especially the low-paid, while protecting them from exploitation. Any employee that fails to follow the regulations on the minimum wage can be subjected to possible wage theft. If a wage theft is committed then it will be reported to the Department of Labor, which will in turn investigate the case.
- Another important labor law that an employee must follow is overtime pay. Overtime pay is what an employee should receive each time they work more hours in a given period of time than they normally do. This can vary depending on the type of job and how long they are employed for. An employer cannot demand extra pay from an employee just because they want to work longer hours.
- The third requirement of the Oregon Labor Code is the state minimum wage. Any wage above this rate is considered illegal. It may be illegal for any employer to ask employees to work more hours than they have been contracted for just to increase their pay rate, or for an employer to try to force an employee to accept lower pay for the same job.
- Another important law of the Oregon Labor Laws is that any employer cannot discriminate against an employee based on race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or age. An employee cannot be fired from their job for reasons such as not following an employer’s rules or refusing to perform an illegal activity. Discrimination is a serious offense. An employer can get into trouble with the Department of Labor for their illegal actions, including having their license suspended, fines, or even having to pay back wages and penalties. if they are caught discriminating against an employee.
- Employers also cannot take advantage of an employee’s age by requiring that they wait for their parents to return from a vacation before hiring them. The first rule of Oregon’s laws requires that an employee be hired based on whether they meet the basic qualifications of employment. They also provide an employee with fair warning if they have to wait for someone to come in before they are qualified for work.
A fourth requirement of the laws of Oregon is that any employer has a fair pay schedule. This includes an employee’s salary, bonus, or payment for benefits. They cannot be given more or less money than they are entitled to be paid for their job. The employer cannot demand more from an employee, then the employee is able to pay.
