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As the year ahead ushers in new requirements for Oregon鈥檚 construction industry, the Bureau of Labor and Industries can help employers of all sizes adapt. Some significant new laws set to take effect this month include:

Pregnancy accommodations

Starting Jan. 1, employers with six or more employees must make reasonable accommodations for pregnant employees. These accommodations could include modification of equipment, modification of break periods by length or frequency, modification of schedules or assignments, and more. If an employer provides light duty for a disabled worker, but not a similarly situated pregnant employee, the denial of the request will bring legal and compliance risk. Employers must also provide notice of these changes to new employees, existing employees (within 180 days of the law taking effect), and anytime an employee informs an employer of a pregnancy. Download a template at .

Expression of breast milk

Employers of all sizes 鈥� not only those with 25 or more employees 鈥� must now provide employees with reasonable time to express breast milk, at least until their child reaches 18 months of age. Employers may no longer require an employee to add this time to an existing break. Time spent expressing breast milk remains unpaid, but only employers with 10 or fewer employers may claim an undue hardship defense.

Workplace fairness

The Workplace Fairness Act represents the first significant update to Oregon鈥檚 sexual harassment laws in the #MeToo era, but the changes extend well beyond harassment. The new law extends the statute of limitations for most employment-based civil rights complaints from one year to five and prevents employers from requiring nondisclosure or non-disparagement agreements. Keeping records is always important 鈥� and even more so now.

In addition to the statute of limitations extension already in place, employers must update their harassment policies by October 2020 to include, among other things, provision of multiple avenues of reporting harassment or discrimination. BOLI will finalize its model policy no later than July 1, so stay tuned for a sample compliance template. (Employers can sign up for compliance alerts by visiting )

Once employers have a revised policy in place, they must provide it to employees at the time of hire, in the workplace and again, in written form, when an employee steps forward with a complaint.

Wage and hour updates

One of the most significant wage and hour changes in 2020 will come not from state law, but a U.S. Department of Labor rule on salary-exempt employees. Starting this month, a salary-exempt employee must earn at least $684 per week to be exempt from overtime pay eligibility; that is up from $455 a week (or $500 in Portland). Exempt employees will also still need to meet (such as 鈥渆xecutive,鈥� 鈥渁dministrative鈥� or 鈥減rofessional鈥�) for the overtime and working condition exemption to withstand scrutiny.

Oregon law limits the amount of wages subject to garnishment generally at 25 percent of an employee鈥檚 disposable earnings (net after taxes), but now the employee must also be left with at least $254 per week. Employers with noncompetition agreements with employees must now provide a written copy within 30 days after the end of the employment relationship. Starting this month, HB 3198 will expand the Construction Contractors Board鈥檚 ability to revoke or suspend contractor licenses for failure to pay a BOLI Final Order on unpaid wages.

Minimum wage will not increase until July, but like clockwork, third-party vendors will likely attempt to sell compliance posters at bloated, inflated prices. Employers can instead or buy low-cost composite posters from us for a fraction of the cost.

In the year ahead, BOLI will closely track new legislation and work hard to help employers stay compliant when new laws take effect. We will also work across the state to help employers prepare for significant changes on the horizon, such as the paid family leave law set to take effect in 2023. Until then, business officials looking for information about their obligations can call BOLI鈥檚 free, confidential employer hotline at 971-673-0824.

Charlie Burr is a training and development specialist for BOLI鈥檚 Technical Assistance for Employers program. He helps employers navigate complex civil rights and wage and hour issues. Contact him at 971-673-0797 or [email protected].