What happened: On Feb. 19, OBI Executive Vice President and General Counsel Paloma Sparks testified in opposition to HB 3187, a redundant anti-discrimination bill that would harm both employers and employees.
What the bill would do: The bill would make several changes to age-discrimination statutes, including the adoption of various factors as “proxies” for age. These include salary, length of employment and pension eligibility status. The bill also would prohibit employers from asking job applicants for graduation dates or birth dates before completing an initial interview or making a job offer.
Problems with the bill: Oregon already provides expansive protections against age-related discrimination, defined as any adverse action related to age over 18. The bill’s creation of proxies for age would expose employers to liability for essential and quite normal hiring decisions. The bill would force employers to make hiring decisions without adequate, relevant information. The bill also would make it difficult for employers to navigate overlapping requirements within Oregon’s pay equity law.
Why it matters: HB 3187 would expand risk for employers in order to discourage a form of discrimination that, to be clear, violates existing law. In pursuing this redundant goal, the law would make it more difficult for employers to make adequately informed hiring decisions. The law would give businesses an additional incentive to invest outside of Oregon, which CNBC deemed the third least business-friendly state in the country in its most recent America’s Top States for Business ranking. Oregon needs continued business investment to create jobs and tax revenue.
For more: Go here to watch Paloma’s testimony before the House Committee on Labor and Workplace Standards. Go here to read her written testimony.
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