By Dunn, Carney, Allen, Higgins & Tongue Hollywood is buzzing right now about a recent federal court decision finding a movie production company was in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act for not paying its interns. This case teaches an important lesson: an internship must be paid unless the […]

By  J.L. Wilson Associated Oregon Industries “Grand Bargain” Reduces PERS Liabilities by $4.6 Billion & Delivers Significant Small Business Tax Relief Last week, Governor Kitzhaber and legislative leaders negotiated a final agreement on a package of bills that would reduce the state’s public employee retirement liabilities; reform the tax code […]

By Oregon Better Business Bureau Thousands of Alaskans, Oregonians and Washingtonians have qualified for two roundtrip airline tickets valued at more than $1,100, according to hand-addressed letters from a company claiming to be “American.” This too-good-to-be-true offer has prompted a Better Business Bureau investigation. An employee of BBB serving Alaska, […]

by John Ledger Associated Oregon Industries In another politicized northwest environmental permitting situation, Washington’s Department of Ecology issued a new ad hoc requirement for a proposed coal terminal transfer/shipping project – an emissions evaluation for when the coal is burned in China. Oregon agencies have come under criticism for allegedly […]

In light of the Snowden file theft scandal, many businesses that utilize private data in the cloud are trying to erect measures to protect themselves from future employees going bad.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce It may be sunny in Los Angeles, but dark clouds hang over union members at the final day of the AFL-CIO convention. Union leaders are so unhappy with Obamacare, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) that the convention is expected to vote on a resolution calling […]

October 1 a Big Day for Small Business By Jan Meekombs Oregon Chapter – NFIB Leaving aside all the justifiable gripes small-business owners have over the confusion, delays, retreats, and exceptions made to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) since its passage in 2010, it’s the law of […]

Barran Liebman Oregon Law Firm Employers Must “Think Outside the Box” When Hiring in Seattle: New “Ban the Box” Ordinance Restricts Use of Criminal Background Checks 10 states and more than 50 municipalities and counties have some form of “ban the box” legislation, regulations, or ordinances on their books. Earlier […]

California Lutheran University My favorite economics chart shows income divided by population (this is income per person) on the vertical axis and time on the horizontal axis.  The time line runs from prehistoric times to the modern era (from, say 1000 BC to 2000).  The line in the chart is […]

Oregon U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Mark Udall (D-Colo.) issued the following statement regarding the 2009 admission by intelligence officials that they did not fully understand the entirety of the bulk phone records collection program. Wyden and Udall are both members of the Senate Intelligence […]