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Oregon Employee Rights



Guide to Oregon Employee Rights

If you are an employee in Oregon, you are protected at work by more state laws than in most United States jurisdictions.  Knowing your OR employee rights is important, so that you can tell when an employer may be acting in knowing or unknowing violation of those rights.  This guide will give a brief overview of some of your Oregon employee rights.  For more detailed information about particular OR employee rights, or advice about a specific legal situation, you may want to consult with a labor and employment attorney in your area.

Personnel Files

In some states, employers are not required to show you your personnel file for any reason.  However, Oregon employee rights allow all employees in the state to access their personnel records within a reasonable amount of time.  You have OR employee rights to inspect all of your files, including those that contain any employee reviews or information about promotions or compensation.

Overtime

If you are an employee who does not work at least 80% of the time in an administrative, professional, executive, or outside sales capacity, you have Oregon employee rights to overtime compensation.  According to federal laws and OR employee rights, all non-exempt employees must be paid one and a half times their average hourly pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 per week.

No Oregon employee rights require double time or holiday overtime pay.  However, you may be entitled to these types of compensation if your employment agreement or union contract provides for them.

Breaks

Although federal laws don't require employers to provide employees with breaks, OR employee rights include the right to one paid 10 minute rest break for every 4 hours of your shift.  You must also be given a 30 minute lunch break if you are working 6 hours or longer, according to your Oregon employee rights.  Your meal break may be unpaid, as long as you have no other duties relating to your job when you are taking your break.  If you are required to perform any job duties (including, for instance, monitoring a store for customers), OR employee rights require that you be paid for your entire meal break.

Discrimination and Harassment

You have a right not to be discriminated against or harassed for your sex, race, religion, ethnicity, national origin, disability, or sexual orientation according to your Oregon employee rights.  If any of these OR employee rights have been violated, you may want to speak to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or an employment attorney.  Oregon employee rights also forbid employers from retaliating against employees who file a discrimination or harassment complaint.

Sick and Vacation Time

While OR employee rights go much further than other states, there is still no right to sick or vacation time in the state.  Your employer is only obligated to give you sick or vacation leave (either paid or unpaid) if you have an employment agreement that specifies these rights.

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