Author: Megan Vaniman

July 13, 2023
by Megan Vaniman

Oregon Annual Adjustment to Maximum Attorney Fees Effective July 1, 2023

It’s that time of year again, the Oregon Workers’ Compensation Board published the annual adjustment to attorney fees awarded under ORS 656.262(11)(a); ORS 656.262(14)(a); and…

January 25, 2023
by Megan Vaniman

Proposed Oregon bill to disallow no-rehire provisions in workers’ compensation settlements

AFL-CIO (a conglomerate of union groups) has proposed legislation to prohibit no re-hire/reemployment/reinstatement clauses in workers’ compensation settlements. Specifically, the proposed legislation would only allow…

June 22, 2022
by Megan Vaniman

Washington Silenced No More Act

Washington state passed sweeping new legislation relating to non-disclosure and non-disparagement clauses in employment related agreements. In 2018, Washington implemented legislation in response to the…

March 30, 2022
by Megan Vaniman

Oregon Court of Appeals determines injury during paid break is not compensable

Are we seeing a shift in the Court of Appeals in relation to injuries during paid breaks?  Recently, in Watt v. SAIF, the Court of…

December 1, 2021
by Megan Vaniman

Oregon CROWN Act Goes into Effect January 1, 2022

In 2021, the Oregon Legislature passed the Oregon CROWN Act. The CROWN act prohibits employers from discriminating against employees and potential employees based on hairstyles…

October 19, 2021
by Megan Vaniman

Oregon Vaccine Mandate for Health Care Workers and Educators in Effect on October 18

Governor Brown’s vaccine mandate for Oregon health care workers and educators went into effect earlier this week. On August 19, 2021 Governor Brown implemented  a…

June 16, 2021
by Megan Vaniman

Oregon Passes CROWN Act

Oregon joins a number of states in prohibiting discrimination based on hairstyles associated with a person’s race. Governor Brown signed HB2935 on June 11, 2021….

April 7, 2021
by Megan Vaniman

BOLI Passes Permanent Rules Relating to OFLA Sick Child Leave During Public Health Emergency

In March 2020, Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) temporarily expanded Oregon Family Leave Act leave to extend protected leave to include employee leave…

January 12, 2021
by Megan Vaniman

New Oregon 801 Form Effective January 1, 2021

The Workers’ Compensation Division implemented a new 801 and 827 form–effective January 1, 2021. The new 801/827 forms remove the Social Security Number. The removal…

December 2, 2020
by Megan Vaniman

Shift in Oregon Claim Closure Analysis?

As of recently, the Oregon Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and Workers’ Compensation Board have issued significant decisions relating to closure of Oregon workers’ compensation…

August 5, 2020
by Megan Vaniman

Oregon Workers’ Compensation Mental Health Presumption of Compensability

Presumption—it’s a scary word in the world of Oregon workers’ compensation. Last year Oregon passed Senate Bill 507—now codified at ORS 656.802(7)—creating a presumption of…

April 15, 2020
by Megan Vaniman

Reductions in Hours, Furloughs, and Layoffs During COVID-19

A lot of employers are having hard conversations right now. A part of those conversations inevitably includes employment decisions. Many companies are trying to decide…

November 5, 2019
by Megan Vaniman

Oregon Legislature Makes Sweeping changes with Workplace Fairness Act

In response to the national #metoo movement, the Oregon legislature passed the 2019 Oregon Workplace Fairness Act. The Workplace Fairness Act (the “Act”) takes aim…

July 7, 2017
by Megan Vaniman

Oregon WCD implements new rejection policy for incomplete or incorrect 801 forms

In a June 27, 2017 Industry Notice, the Oregon WCD announced it will reject incomplete or incorrect insurer/employer created 801 and 1502 forms. Insurers and…

May 19, 2017
by Megan Vaniman

Washington passes strict distracted driving law

Hopefully you are reading this blog post from the safety of your computer and not while driving. If you are using your cell phone to…

April 6, 2017
by Megan Vaniman

WCD Adresses Supreme Court’s Brown v. SAIF decision

The Oregon Supreme Court’s recent decision in Brown v. SAIF, 361 Or 241 (2017) calls into doubt the applicability of the Workers’ Compensation Division rules…

January 5, 2017
by Megan Vaniman

Changes to OAR 436-060 effective as of January 1, 2017

In 2016, the Workers’ Compensation Division drafted changes to OAR 436-060. These changes went into effect on January 1, 2017. Below, I have outlined several…

December 29, 2016
by Megan Vaniman

New Oregon WCD Rules go into effect January 1, 2017

Earlier this year, the Oregon Workers’ Compensation Division proposed extensive changes to division rules. The rule changes go into effect on January 1, 2017. The…

November 29, 2016
by Megan Vaniman

Join SBH at the DMEC ADAAA/Family Leave Roundtable

Please join me at the DMEC Roundtable on December 14, 2016. Mike Moses from Kaiser Permanente and I will be speaking on ADAAA and Family…

November 10, 2016
by Megan Vaniman

Claimant only required to show idiopathic factors were less likely to have caused unexplained injury

The Oregon Court of Appeals established new case-law on claimant’s burden of proof in “unexplained fall” claims. If an injury is unexplained, as a matter…

October 14, 2016
by Megan Vaniman

Board’s new attorney fee rules go into effect on November 1.

The Oregon Workers’ Compensation Board passed revised attorney fee rules on October 13, 2016.  The most significant changes involve increased attorney fees for disputed claims…

September 30, 2016
by Megan Vaniman

Claimant’s request for hearing on 10 year old denial is untimely.

On October 26, 2006, SAIF issued a denial of claimant’s injury claim. The denial was mailed via certified mail and a person who identified himself…

July 15, 2016
by Megan Vaniman

Department of Labor increases penalties under LHWCA

The Department of Labor issued an interim final rule increasing penalties assessed by the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs under the LHWCA. The new rules…

June 10, 2016
by Megan Vaniman

Pohrman Lives On

U.S. Bank v. Pohrman, 272 Or App 31 (2015), the Court of Appeals case that determined an injury suffered while an employee is on break…

May 13, 2016
by Megan Vaniman

NLRB rules it’s your right to be unhappy at work

Want to be unhappy at work? Now grumpy employees have the law on their side. The Communications Workers of America Local 7011 Union challenged T-Mobile’s employee handbook…