By Oregon Employment Department, Oregon’s private employers had 58,000 job vacancies at any given time in 2018. They reported a majority of them (33,000 or 57%) as difficult to fill. In a mature economic expansion with unemployment rates at or near historic lows for two years, a lack of applicants […]

By Taxpayer Foundation of Oregon, People are selling T-shirts, key chains, mugs, and other items bearing the state seal of Oregon, but the state isn’t making any money from those sales. However, that could change under a bill cosponsored by Sen. Bill Hansell, an Athena Republican, according to The Oregonian/Oregon […]

By Liani J. Reeves Bullard Law, Oregon law firm As the Oregon Legislature has been publicly forced to respond to allegations of workplace sexual harassment occurring in its own halls, Senate Bill 726, also known as the Oregon Workplace Fairness Act, passed through both chambers without much resistance. The Senate […]

By US Senator Ron Wyden, Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden have joined 24 colleagues in calling on Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Kathy Kraninger to reverse a proposed rule that would, for the first time, allow debt collection companies to send unlimited texts and e-mails to […]

By Taxpayer Foundation of Oregon, Oregon’s largest seller of cannabis, Nectar Markets, is facing a $4 million lawsuit from a retailer that it acquired as it grew to encompass 18 outlets. Dana Weihman contends that Nectar promised in 2018 to pay $1.2 million to purchase Rose City Buds & Flowers […]

National Retail Federation, Theft, fraud and losses from other retail “shrink” totaled $50.6 billion in 2018, up from $46.8 billion the year before as industry security executives said there is a growing overlap between loss prevention and cybersecurity efforts, according to the annual National Retail Security Survey released today by […]

By Heather Fossity & Amy Angel Barran Liebman Oregon Law Firm The Oregon Workplace Fairness Act (“SB 726”), currently awaiting signature from the Governor’s Office, involves several significant changes aimed to address workplace discrimination and harassment. These changes will require most Oregon employers to adjust policies and practices moving forward. […]

Stimson Lumber Company Press Release, Stimson Lumber Company announced that it will permanently curtail operations at its Forest Grove sawmill by 40%, resulting in the loss of over 60 competitive-wage jobs with full benefit packages. The mill, built as a state-of-the-art operation designed to keep the company competitive in a […]

By Oregon Employment Department, Oregon’s minimum wage increases on July 1, 2019, but the raises won’t be the same across the state. The minimum wage increases to $12.50 per hour inside the Portland urban growth boundary, $11.00 per hour in nonurban counties, and $11.25 in other areas of the state. […]

By NFIB, America’s small businesses are continuing their hiring spree, with a net addition of 0.32 workers per firm, according to NFIB’s monthly jobs report, released recently. However, 25 percent of all owners cited the difficulty of finding qualified workers as their Single Most Important Business Problem, matching the record […]