May 2022: Oregon Governor Signs Bill on Incentives, Bonuses, and Equal Pay Requirements

Update Applicable to:
All employers in the state of Oregon.

What happened?
On March 7, 2022, Governor Brown signed Senate Bill 1514 (SB 1514) into law, extending the expiration date of temporary amendments to Oregon’s Equal Pay Act.

What are the details?
To provide employers with greater flexibility in attracting and retaining workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Oregon legislature amended Oregon’s Equal Pay Act in 2021 to temporarily exclude vaccine incentives, hiring bonuses, and retention bonuses from the Act’s definition of “compensation” for purposes of pay equity requirements.

Those amendments were set to expire on March 1, 2022; however, SB 1514 extends the expiration date of those amendments until “the 180th day following the expiration or termination of the declaration of a state of emergency issued by the Governor on March 8, 2020.”

Effective immediately upon Governor Brown’s signature on March 7, 2022, Oregon employers may offer vaccine incentives, hiring bonuses, and retention bonuses until 180 days (August 28, 2022) after the expiration of the COVID-19 state of emergency without running afoul of the Equal Pay Act.

For more information, please see the links below:

Senate Bill 1514 (SB 1514)

Article 1 – Article 2

What do employers need to do?
Employers should review the links provided above and take advantage of this time to offer incentives and bonuses before the expiration date on August 28, 2022.