By Oregon Business and Industry Frontline workers, as defined by the CDC, and Oregonians 16+ with underlying health conditions — both of which were scheduled to become eligible for the vaccine on April 19 — will now be eligible beginning April 5. This has raised several questions among OBI members, […]

By Oregon Employment Department, The total estimate of job vacancies at any given time in 2020 dropped 22% from the level in 2019, as the pandemic shuttered businesses and stalled hiring, especially in the spring at the onset of business restrictions. Still, employers were hiring for a wide variety of […]

By Oregon Small Business Association The U.S. Labor Department has ordered the owners of a Beaverton restaurant to pay more than $400,000 in back pay to its 39 employees. Buffet Palace paid a flat monthly wage to its employees, no matter how many hours they worked, resulting at times in […]

And So It Begins: First Known Lawsuit Over Vaccine Mandate Filed in New Mexico By Natalie Pattison By Barran Liebman LLP Oregon law firm, Employers considering vaccine mandates take note: one of the earliest known lawsuits challenging an employer-mandated vaccine policy has been filed in New Mexico. As we discussed […]

By NFIB, The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s leading small business advocacy organization, issued the following statement from Kevin Kuhlman, Vice President of Federal Government Relations, in response to the U.S. Senate’s passage of H.R. 1799, the PPP Extension Act of 2021, which is an NFIB Key […]

By Oregon US Attorney Office Press Release, A U.S. Department of State employee and his spouse were sentenced for their roles in an international conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods from the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, Republic of Korea. Gene Leroy Thompson Jr., 54, was sentenced to 18 months in […]

Oregon’s UI Trust Fund Balance / Taxing Forgiven PPP Loans? / It’s a Warning Week By Oregon Restaurant Association, It’s a very busy week in the Oregon Legislature. Here are the latest updates overall at the association. A more detailed Advocacy Update will be sent to ORLA members soon from […]

By Barran Liebman LLP Oregon law firm, Oregon Representative Diego Hernandez’s resignation followed allegations of sexual harassment, an investigation into those claims, Committee hearings regarding the findings, and a lawsuit by Rep. Hernandez regarding the investigation and process. Of course, allegations of harassment are not confined to political offices, and […]

US Chamber of Commerce, The U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Dream and Promise Act (H.R. 6) and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act (H.R. 1603). Neil Bradley, Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer of the U.S. Chamber released the following statement after the vote: “Both the American Dream […]

By Oregon Employment Department March 9, 2021 January 2021 Employment and Unemployment in Oregon’s Counties In January 2021, 16 out of 36 of Oregon’s counties experienced over-the-month increases in their unemployment rates. Oregon’s unemployment rate decreased by 0.1 percentage point between December and January, and 14 of Oregon’s counties followed […]