New year will bring new laws to Oregon workplaces

In less than a month, several new Oregon laws will start taking effect. And whether you’re an employer or an employee, they could impact you.

Employers in mill, factory and manufacturing industries will ring in the new year with different overtime guidelines. Starting Jan. 1, employers can pay either daily or weekly overtime, whichever is greater — but not both. Also, employees won’t have to work more than 55 hours unless they want to.

Later, in July, businesses with more than 500 employees will be required to give employees at least one week notice of their work schedule. That will increase to two weeks in 2020.

Another change for 2018: Employers can be fined for asking employees to create or sign anything misrepresenting the hours they worked or payment they received. Employees forced to violate the law could get up to $1,000 in damages.

More changes taking effect on Jan. 1 include Oregon’s ‘Move Over’ law expanding to non-emergency vehicles such as tow trucks, and an increase in the tobacco age to 21. Birth control options through a pharmacist will also expand to include Deposhot and Nuvaring.