Oregon employers: are you ready for the Workplace Fairness Act?
The Workplace Fairness Act goes into full effect on October 1, 2020. This Act adds to Oregon’s existing discrimination and harassment laws, extending statutes of limitations and requiring employers to have specific policies and practices in place to address workplace discrimination. While it arose out of the #MeToo movement, it is not limited to sexual harassment and broadly covers discrimination on the basis of race, age, disability, gender, religion, marital status, etcetera – all the protected classes within ORS 659A.030.
Under the Workplace Fairness Act, all Oregon employers need to have a policy including specific provisions to give employees at hire and when a complaint is made. BOLI has now posted a sample policy on its website, available here. If you have not yet updated your employee handbook or policy documents to comply with the new requirement, and need assistance making sure you are ready for this new law, please give me a call at 503-595-2134 or email me at .
