World of Employment

The Stoel Rives Labor & Employment Law Blog

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Out with the Old, in with the New: Employers Should Expect Changes Under a Biden Administration

January 21, 2021

In case you missed it (did anyone miss it?), President Joe Biden was sworn into office yesterday. Although workplace issues are hardly the only pressing item on the new President’s agenda, employers should be prepared for the rollout of additional employee protections under the Biden administration. Priorities That President Biden Has Already Announced Extending and Expanding FFCRA Leave The paid time off provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”), which required most employers…

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DOL Publishes Final Independent Contractor Rule to Take Effect in March

By John Dudrey, Adam Belzberg, Ryan Kunkel & Chris Wall

January 12, 2021

The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) published a final rule addressing independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). Independent contractor status is a critical question under the FLSA because eligible employees are entitled to the law’s protections (for example, minimum wage and overtime for non-exempt employees) but independent contractors are not. Incorrectly classifying workers is a common cause of expensive class action lawsuits and can lead to payment of back wages and…

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Department of Labor Publishes Final Rule Regarding Tip Pools and Tip Credits

By John Dudrey & Karen O'Connor

December 28, 2020

After a lengthy and contentious rulemaking process, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) published its final rule revising its tipped-employee regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) last week. The new rules take effect 60 days from their publication in the Federal Register, which will occur shortly. Here is a summary of the new rules’ most critical provisions: Tip Credit Provisions. Several provisions of the new rules address the FLSA’s tip credit provision, which allows…

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EEOC Publishes Guidance Regarding COVID-19 Vaccines

By John Dudrey, Caroline Sundbaum, Dexter Pearce & Brenda Baumgart

December 17, 2020

*This article was originally published as a Legal Alert on December 17, 2020. With the COVID-19 vaccine becoming available to some and just around the corner for others, the question on many employers’ (and employees’) minds is whether they can (or should) mandate employees be vaccinated as a condition of employment. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) published important new guidance yesterday concerning an employer’s right to require employees to receive a COVID-19 vaccine once…

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Oregon Employment Department Posts First Draft of Proposed Paid Family Medical Leave Rules

By John Dudrey & Karen O'Connor

December 9, 2020

As we’ve blogged about previously here, here, and here, in 2019, the Oregon legislature passed a paid family and medical leave (“PFML”) law which provides Oregon employees with up to 12 weeks of paid leave for a covered purpose through a payroll tax; Oregon employers with at least 25 employees are covered by the new program. Employer contributions do not begin until 2022, and benefits are not available to employees until 2023. …

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Oregon OSHA Issues Sample Materials for Required Employee Training and Releases Delayed Enforcement Memorandum

By John Dudrey, Karen O'Connor & Caroline Sundbaum

December 8, 2020

Oregon OSHA has just released a series of materials, including sample training materials, to help employers comply with OR-OSHA’s temporary workplace safety rules related to COVID-19. We previously discussed the OR-OSHA rules here and here. The new materials are summarized below. Sample Training Materials Employers must provide employees with COVID-19 information and training by December 21, 2020. For most employers, the training can be provided remotely (for example, by having employees review a PowerPoint). …

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The COVID-19 Vaccine Is Coming: Can Employers Require Employees to Get Vaccinated?

By John Dudrey, Dexter Pearce & Laura Rosenbaum

December 7, 2020

With FDA approval of a COVID-19 vaccine possibly coming this week, employers are wondering whether they can require their employees to get vaccinated as a condition of employment. For many employers, the answer is yes, subject to a few exceptions. As a general matter, employers are free to set the terms and conditions of employment, including requiring employees to be vaccinated against contagious illnesses. However, employers cannot require employees who qualify for medical or religious…

World of Employment

California Imposes More Stringent Requirements on Employers Relating to COVID-19

By Bryan Hawkins

December 2, 2020

On November 20, 2020, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standard Board adopted temporary regulations regarding measures that employers must undertake in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace. On November 30, those regulations went into effect and are set to be in place for at least 180 days. California employers must now take immediate steps to ensure compliance with these new and in some ways extraordinary regulations. Critically, these new regulations…

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Oregon Issues New COVID-19 Guidance for Employers, Including Updated Face Covering Requirements

By Laura Rosenbaum & Caroline Sundbaum

November 19, 2020

On the same day that Oregon’s statewide “freeze” went into effect, which we blogged about here, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) issued new face covering guidance and new guidance for employers. That guidance is available here (face coverings) and here (employers). Face Covering Guidance Under the new face covering guidance, employees working in cubicles or similar settings must wear face coverings at all times except when eating or drinking, even if the individual…

World of Employment

Oregon Orders a Statewide “Freeze” Due to COVID-19 Surge, Closing Some Businesses, Restricting Bars and Restaurants to Takeout, and Further Limiting Social Gatherings

By Karen O'Connor & Caroline Sundbaum

November 13, 2020

On November 13, 2020, after concluding that the previously proposed two-week “pause” did not go far enough, Governor Kate Brown announced a two-week statewide “freeze” aimed at slowing the rapid spread of COVID-19. The statewide freeze starts on Wednesday, November 18 and runs through December 2, 2020, meaning that the freeze will be in place during the Thanksgiving holiday. The freeze will be longer in some counties, including Multnomah County, where the freeze is expected…

World of Employment

The Stoel Rives Labor & Employment Law Blog

Out with the Old, in with the New: Employers Should Expect Changes Under a Biden Administration

DOL Publishes Final Independent Contractor Rule to Take Effect in March

Department of Labor Publishes Final Rule Regarding Tip Pools and Tip Credits

EEOC Publishes Guidance Regarding COVID-19 Vaccines

Oregon Employment Department Posts First Draft of Proposed Paid Family Medical Leave Rules

Oregon OSHA Issues Sample Materials for Required Employee Training and Releases Delayed Enforcement Memorandum

The COVID-19 Vaccine Is Coming: Can Employers Require Employees to Get Vaccinated?

California Imposes More Stringent Requirements on Employers Relating to COVID-19

Oregon Issues New COVID-19 Guidance for Employers, Including Updated Face Covering Requirements

Oregon Orders a Statewide “Freeze” Due to COVID-19 Surge, Closing Some Businesses, Restricting Bars and Restaurants to Takeout, and Further Limiting Social Gatherings

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