Oregon adopts rules as new tiered mimum wage set to start

The Bureau of Labor and Industries has published new minimum wage rules in preparation for a July minimum wage increase, the agency announced Wednesday.

The rules will help employers calculate wages in circumstances such as a worker performing duties at a location other than the employer’s permanent location or working in multiple areas in the course of a work period.

Final rules can be found here.

The plan will raise the minimum wage over the next six years. Portland’s minimum wage will reach $14.75 per hour in 2022. In smaller cities and areas, including Deschutes County, the minimum wage will rise to $13.50. In rural areas, including Crook and Jefferson counties, it will rise to $12.50 an hour.

Under the agreement, in July the current $9.25 hourly rate will go by 50 cents in Portland and areas including Deschutes County and 25 cents in rural communities.

BOLI officials said the rules reflect comments from a diverse group of Oregonians and an advisory group that included the NW Grocery Associations, Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association, Oregon Farm Bureau, Oregon Association of Nurseries, Association of Oregon Industries, Oregon Business Association, UFCW, PCUN, AFL-CIO, Family Forward, SEIU, CAUSA and Oregon Center for Public Policy.

In addition to holding a public hearing and convening multiple advisory meetings, the agency received more than 300 written comments about the proposed rules.

“I appreciate that both industry associations and minimum wage advocates stepped up to advise our agency’s rulemaking process,” said Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian. “As Oregon raises its minimum wage for more than a hundred thousand workers next month, we hope that the rules will provide fairness to workers and employers alike.”

Passed by the 2016 Oregon Legislature, SB 1532 creates a series of annual minimum wage increases starting in July. After 2023, Oregon’s minimum wage rate will be indexed to inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a figure published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics to track prices for a fixed “market basket” of goods.

The law creates a tiered wage floor based on three zones around the state: 1) inside the urban growth boundary of the Portland metro region, including Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties 2) certain “nonurban” counties and 3) the rest of the state.

BOLI’s Technical Assistance for Employers Program will hold a series of seminars around the state to help employers navigate new sick time requirements, minimum wage rules and other new workplace laws.

The agency also intends to develop one poster for the state that will satisfy employers’ posting requirements.