By Dunn, Carney, Allen, Higgins & Tongue EEOC Toughens Stance on Pregnancy Discrimination On July 14 the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued new guidance on pregnancy discrimination and related issues. In 2013 the EEOC cautioned employers it was ramping up its focus on claims of pregnancy discrimination. The […]

By Josh Lehner Oregon Office of Economic Analysis Blog Undoubtedly Oregon’s monthly employment reports have been less than stellar in the past handful of months. The unemployment rate has risen each month since April, although it’s back on track with it’s trend since the depths of the Great Recession. Conversely, […]

By Bullard Law, Portland law firm By Michael G. McClory Every once in a while we receive a letter in the (fictional) mailbag that is tough to describe and quite compelling.  This week, Isabel, the new HR manager at LabCo (and someone who is new to HR), wants to know […]

By Anthony Smith, Oregon NFIB Small businesses get a reprieve, at least in the interim. It’s not often that small business owners are met with good news regarding Oregon’s minimum wage, but the state will not see an increase in rates for the first time in five years. Minimum wage […]

By Oregon Attorney General, Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum today filed a lawsuit against General Nutrition Corporation, GNC, for selling nutritional and dietary supplements containing the illegal ingredients picamilon and BMPEA. The lawsuit alleges that the company violated the Oregon Unlawful Trade Practices Act (UTPA) by misrepresenting certain products as lawful […]

By National Retail Federation, A gift shop owner told Congress  that making the change to chip-and-signature credit cards has been “overwhelming” for many small businesses and that owners are disappointed that without PINs they are being pressured to make an expensive investment without receiving the full level of security that […]

William Barnes Regional General Manager, West Uber Dear Commissioner Avakian, I write in response to your unprompted decision to issue an advisory opinion regarding drivers using the Uber platform. This decision and subsequent push to media is surprising, since the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries did so apparently without […]

Bureau of Labor and Industries Public Press Release, The Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI)  issued an Advisory Opinion that finds that Uber drivers are employees under Oregon labor law. The Advisory Opinion is intended to be instructive on what conclusions can be drawn from current, available information. To date, […]

Oregon’s Employment Declines in September By Oregon Employment Department, Oregon’s nonfarm payroll employment dropped by 5,300 jobs in September, the first monthly job decline in 36 months. Despite the job loss in September, Oregon has still added 49,500 jobs over the past year. That’s still a strong growth rate (2.9%) […]

By Josh Lehner Oregon Office of Economic Analysis Blog There have been at least three primary drivers of the massive shift toward renting in the past decade: finances, demographics, and taste and preferences. Much of the discussion surrounding this overall shift has focuses on the finance issues — foreclosures, credit […]