State labor lawRead at source, 24 September 2026

Oregon Labor Laws for Employers (2026): Breaks, Overtime, Final Pay and Hiring

Oregon requires more than most states. Adults get a 30-minute meal period on a shift of six hours or more and a paid 10-minute rest break for every four hours worked. Overtime is weekly for most employers, after 40 hours, but manufacturing pays it after 10 hours in a day. Every employee earns sick time (paid at employers with 10 or more employees, or six with a Portland location), and a fired employee's final pay is due by the end of the next business day. Oregon's minimum wage depends on location, and the state bars conviction questions on applications and salary history questions, though it doesn't require pay ranges in postings.

Oregon employment law at a glance

Oregon's wage and hour rules are in ORS chapters 652 (paydays and final pay) and 653 (minimum wage, breaks, overtime, sick time and minors), with hiring rules in chapter 659A. The Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) enforces them and adds detail in the Oregon Administrative Rules. The table is the short version.

Oregon break laws

Adults. Oregon is one of the few states that requires both meal periods and paid rest breaks. BOLI's summary: for each eight-hour work period, an employee gets "two 10 minute paid rest breaks" and "one 30 minute unpaid meal break," free from work responsibilities. The requirement scales with the length of the work period:

The meal period has to fall at a set point: for a work period of six to seven hours, after the second hour and before the fifth; for more than seven hours, after the third hour and before the sixth. If an employee performs any duties during the meal period, the whole period must be paid. BOLI allows narrow exceptions, including an undue-hardship exception that requires a BOLI notice form, and lets tipped food and beverage servers who are 18 or older voluntarily waive the meal period, but not until they have worked for the employer at least seven days (BOLI).

Minors. Workers under 18 get a 30-minute meal period on a work period of six hours or more and a paid 15-minute rest break for each four hours or major portion, five minutes longer than the adult rest break (BOLI). See child labor laws by state.

Lactation. Under ORS 653.077, employers must give reasonable rest periods to express milk for a child up to 18 months old and make reasonable efforts to provide a private location that isn't a public restroom or toilet stall. The time is unpaid except that it counts against paid rest breaks the employee is already owed. Employers with 10 or fewer employees can claim an undue-hardship exemption. The federal PUMP Act applies too.

Oregon overtime laws

For most Oregon employers, overtime is weekly: time and a half for all hours over 40 in the workweek, and "even an employee who works 24 hours in one day will be owed no overtime if he works no more than 40 hours in the workweek" (BOLI). The exceptions are industry-specific:

• Manufacturing. Employees of manufacturing establishments must get overtime after 10 hours in a day, and they're limited to 13 hours of work in a 24-hour period. BOLI notes recent legislation applying these rules to bakeries and tortilla factories.
• Canneries, agriculture, hospitals and public works have their own overtime rules. Agricultural overtime follows its own schedule under ORS 653.272.
• Comp time in place of overtime pay is allowed only for government employers.
• Exempt salaried employees. BOLI says salaried exempt employees currently must receive the federal minimum salary of $684 a week, which is more generous than Oregon's own figure. The duties test still applies; see exempt vs. non-exempt.

Predictive scheduling. Retail, hospitality and food service employers with 500 or more employees worldwide must give a written schedule at least 14 calendar days in advance and can't schedule an employee in the first 10 hours after a previous shift ended unless the employee requests or agrees; a shift worked inside that window is paid at time and a half (BOLI). See predictive scheduling laws by state.

Paying employees in Oregon

Minimum wage

Oregon sets three regional rates. From July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 they are $16.80 in the Portland metro area (inside the urban growth boundary), $15.55 standard, and $14.55 in 18 nonurban counties (BOLI). Rates adjust every July 1 for inflation. There is no tip credit, and cities and counties can't set their own minimum for private employers (ORS 653.017). Our Oregon minimum wage page explains which rate applies where.

Paydays

Every employer must set a regular payday, and paydays can't be more than 35 days apart (ORS 652.120). BOLI adds that employers may not withhold or delay a paycheck as discipline or to get employer property back. Starting January 1, 2026, SB 906 changed itemized pay statement rules (BOLI legislative updates); check your pay stub format with your payroll provider.

Final paychecks

Oregon's deadlines are among the tightest in the country (ORS 652.140; BOLI):

• Fired, laid off or terminated by mutual agreement: all wages are due by the end of the first business day after the termination.
• Quit with at least 48 hours' notice (not counting weekends and holidays): due on the last day of work, or the next business day if that falls on a weekend or holiday.
• Quit with less notice: due within five days, excluding weekends and holidays, or on the next regular payday, whichever comes first.

Payout of unused vacation depends on your policy; see PTO payout laws by state.

Oregon hiring laws

Oregon regulates several parts of the hiring process. Before the first shift, check:

• Pay in job postings: not required by Oregon law. BOLI's list of 2025 and 2026 legislation includes no posting requirement.
• Salary history: employers can't seek an applicant's salary history from the applicant or a current or former employer. After making an offer that includes pay, you can ask for written authorization to confirm prior pay (ORS 659A.357).
• Criminal history: every Oregon employer is covered. You can't require an applicant to disclose a conviction on the application or before an initial interview, or, if there's no interview, before a conditional offer (ORS 659A.360). You can still consider conviction history in the hiring decision. See ban the box laws by state.
• Age and graduation dates: since September 26, 2025, HB 3187 bars asking for an applicant's age, date of birth, or when they attended or graduated from school until after an interview or a conditional offer, unless required by law or a bona fide occupational qualification (BOLI). Take birth date and graduation year out of application forms and screening questions.
• Non-competes: generally unenforceable against hourly, non-exempt employees. A noncompetition agreement is void unless, among other conditions, the employee is salaried and exempt and earns above an inflation-adjusted threshold, with a narrow exception where the employer agrees in writing to pay the employee during the restriction (BOLI).
• Required policies: BOLI says every Oregon employer needs a written policy to prevent harassment, discrimination and sexual assault, and a sick leave policy (BOLI).
• E-Verify: not required. Complete Form I-9 for every hire.
• New-hire reporting: report new and rehired employees, and independent contractors, to the Oregon Department of Justice Division of Child Support within 20 days (ORS 25.790). See new hire reporting requirements.
• Minors: an employer that hires anyone under 18 must hold an annual employment certificate from BOLI and post it; Oregon issues no individual work permits for 14- to 17-year-olds (BOLI). From January 1, 2027, HB 4013 says Oregon's rules on minors' hours can't be less restrictive than federal law.

Paid leave in Oregon

Sick time. Under ORS 653.606, employees earn at least one hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked (or 1 1/3 hours per 40), starting on their first day, and employers may cap accrual at 40 hours a year. The time must be paid if the employer has at least 10 employees working anywhere in Oregon, or at least six if the employer has a location in Portland; smaller employers must provide it unpaid. Employees can carry over up to 40 unused hours, and employers may cap total accrual at 80 hours and use at 40 hours a year. Front-loading 40 hours at the start of the year satisfies the accrual rule. See BOLI sick time.

Paid Leave Oregon. The state program pays wage replacement for family, medical and safe leave. The 2026 contribution is 1% of gross wages up to $184,500; employers with 25 or more employees pay 40% of it and employees pay 60% (Paid Leave Oregon).

OFLA. Employers with 25 or more employees also owe job-protected leave under the Oregon Family Leave Act for bereavement and sick child leave, among other reasons (BOLI).

Posters and records

BOLI lists the required Oregon notices on its worksite postings page, updates them each year effective July 1, and says compliance with posting requirements is free. Employers with more than one location generally post at each worksite. Keep records of hours worked and deductions for every employee (ORS 653.045). See labor law posters by state.

Local ordinances in Oregon

The state preempts local minimum wages for private employers (ORS 653.017), so the Portland rate is the state's own metro tier, not a city ordinance. Portland still matters in one place: the paid sick time threshold drops from 10 employees to six for employers with a Portland location. Heat and smoke rules also apply statewide; see heat illness prevention.

What this means when you're hiring hourly workers in Oregon

Oregon's rules shape what an honest job ad says. The legal floor depends on the worksite, so price a Portland-area job off $16.80, not $15.55. Paid rest breaks and sick time are required, which makes them weak selling points on their own; lead instead with the hourly rate, the shift and the town. Take age, birth date, graduation year and conviction questions out of the application form, keep it short enough to finish on a phone, and call back the same day. In Boostpoint's 2026 benchmark of 891 Meta job campaigns, 70% of the difference in cost per applicant between campaigns came from what happened after the click. Our job ad copywriting guide and employee cost calculator help you set the number and say it clearly.

Frequently asked questions

Rules read in the Oregon Revised Statutes (2025 edition) and at the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, 24 September 2026. General information, not legal advice.