The Oregon Biz Report - Business News from Oregon

Court strikes down controversial labor decision

Barran Liebman
Oregon Law Firm

Fifth Circuit Strikes Down NLRB’s Controversial DR Horton Decision

In a much anticipated decision, the Fifth Circuit reversed the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and held that an employer may require employees to sign an arbitration agreement that precludes collective action claims. D.R. Horton, Incorporated v. National Labor Relations Board, Case No. 12-60031. Petitioner, D. R. Horton is a home builder operating throughout the United States. In 2006, it implemented a policy requiring all new and existing employees to sign, as a condition of employment, what it called, a Mutual Arbitration Agreement (Agreement). Under the terms of the Agreement, the employees agreed that all disputes and claims would be submitted exclusively to final and binding arbitration. Importantly, the Agreement also provided that “the arbitrator [would] not have the authority to fashion a proceeding as a class or collective action or to award relief to a group or class of employees in one arbitration proceeding.”

A superintendent working for Horton, Michael Cuda, signed the arbitration agreement, but later initiated an arbitration claim for unpaid overtime on behalf of himself and others. After Horton invoked the prohibition of class claims under the Agreement, Cuda filed an unfair labor practice charge, asserting that the class-action waiver violated his Section 7 rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The NLRB agreed with Cuda and held the Agreement unenforceable because it interfered with his right to engage in concerted activities.

Oregon jobless hit 5 year low!

by David Cooke
Oregon Employment Dept.

Oregon’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 7.7 percent in October, its lowest point since October 2008 when the rate was also 7.7 percent. The rate was 7.8 percent in September and 8.1 percent in August. Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate continued to decline in October, reaching 61.2 percent; this was a record low for this series, which started in January 1976.

Oregon cut 500 jobs in October, after adding 3,300 in September and 5,600 in August. These nonfarm payroll employment figures are seasonally adjusted.

Taking the last few months as a whole, the latest labor market numbers reflect a gradually accelerating pace of economic expansion in Oregon, with overall modest employment gains during the most recent 12 months. Since October 2012, seasonally adjusted payroll employment is up 30,700 jobs or 1.9 percent. The private sector grew fairly rapidly, expanding 33,300 jobs or 2.5 percent. This gain was offset by a decline in government of 2,600 jobs, or 0.9 percent.

Tech firms uneven employee retention rates

Tech firms uneven employee retention rates.
By Oregon Small Business Association

Where Ore. personal income is gowing

By Josh Lehner
Oregon Office of Economic Analysis Blog..

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released 2012 personal income data by county and metropolitan area last week, along with comprehensive revisions to 2001-11 data. Given the local area detail and massive data collection process, this information does come out with a considerable time lag (11 months after the end of the year) but is by far the best data we have at the county level and forms the basis for much of our local level analysis.

One interesting item in the data that I didn’t notice at first but was brought to my attention by our friends at the Bend Bulletin is the fact that income growth decelerated from 2011 to 2012. Growth was positive, so we are seeing gains, however the rate of growth in 2012 was slower than the rate of growth seen in 2011. What is going on here?

First, the 2% payroll tax cut which was enacted at the beginning of 2011 and boosted workers’ paychecks. Typically payroll taxes subject from personal income since workers do not get to keep this income, however with the tax cut, it did contribute to stronger gains in 2011. This is shown by the green in the graph below. Consequently, the payroll tax cut was allowed to expire at the beginning of 2013 and therefore 2013 personal income will grow at a much slower pace due to the tax increase. Second, and most importantly for the deceleration, is a slower rate of growth in Dividends, Interest and Rent. In 2011, rental income and dividends grew at a 20% and 25% pace, respectively, at the national level (we don’t have detailed, broken out data on this category at the local level.) Rents were increasing nationally due to higher demand for rental properties and foreclosures were being converted to rentals as well. Dividends rebounded following the recession. These trends boosted overall personal income growth considerably in 2011, accounting for 1.8 percentage points of the statewide 6.1% growth. This was even more pronounced in Bend where the gains contributed 3.3 percentage points of the the area’s 6.3% growth.

7 Things You May Not Know About Payroll Taxes

By NFIB
Payroll taxes are a fact of life, but that doesn’t mean you know all the facts.

Any time the federal government, a state government and a small business intersects, there are bound to be nuances. And when it comes to payroll taxes, those details matter; tax authorities take very seriously the withholding and remitting of funds from employees’ paychecks.

Here, then, are seven things you may not know about payroll taxes and certainly should.

1. Tax liability in other states.

If a business has employees in multiple states, payroll taxes may get more complex. Different states have their own rules regarding how payroll taxes are handled, as well as different rates in certain areas. “Hiring people to work for you in other states potentially creates unemployment tax liability in those states,” says NFIB member Sam Kerch, resident CPA and director of finance at Symmetry Software in Scottsdale, Arizona. “Check with the states you are dealing with to determine what other taxes you may be subject to.”

Cap & Trade for Oregon gas?

Associated Oregon industries

by John Ledger

Ore. minimum wage soars — Expect a $20 Whopper?

By Jan Meekcoms
Oregon NFIB
(Originally published in Salem Business Journal)

Anti-fast-food crusaders rejoice! Your cause is getting some unexpected – and likely unintended – traction from the twin threats to burgers and fries everywhere: Obamacare and the state’s minimum-wage rate.

To take the latter first, the minimum wage has always been, and will always be, an entry-level wage, paid those just entering the workforce. As the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics put it in its biennial Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers report, “Minimum wage workers tend to be young. Although workers under age 25 represented only about one-fifth of hourly paid workers, they made up about half of those paid the Federal minimum wage or less. Among employed teenagers paid by the hour, about 21 percent earned the minimum wage or less, compared with about 3 percent of workers age 25 and over.”

In other words, it is extremely rare for a head-of-household to be trying to raise a family on the minimum wage. In fact, the teens and young adults who start out at the minimum wage don’t stay there very long. That’s why boosting the minimum wage rate has the commensurate effect of lowering employment for teens, young adults, and even adults and seniors looking to earn a little extra cash.

Timbers are 3rd Most Valuable – Who is Laughing Now?

Inside world’s most advanced, hi-tech sports arena

Bloomberg Businessweek video takes an inside look into the San Fransisco 49er arena