Oregon Overtime Laws – OR

Updated on March 26th, 2021 Author: Sergei Lemberg

You work hard at your job, pushing past 40 hours in a week. It’s tough, but you have your eye on the prize, a larger check thanks to overtime pay. But how do you know if you qualify for it? What are the overtime laws in Oregon? Understanding these laws will help ensure you receive the proper compensation for your hard work.

Oregon follows both the federally overtime laws provided by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state overtime laws. Once an employee reaches 40 hours in a single workweek, employers are required to compensate them at a rate of 1.5x their standard hourly pay. There are also daily overtime laws that Oregon wage laws enforce.

Summary of Overtime Law in Oregon

Below is a list of essential provisions to overtime law in Oregon:

Note: New legislation, high court rulings (federal court decisions included), ballot initiatives, and other influences can change state laws. Please refer to a qualified Oregon attorney or complete your own research to verify the laws in your state to ensure accuracy.

What Does “Working Off the Clock” Mean?

Sometimes employers try to find a way around overtime laws in Oregon. One common method involves having employees work “off the clock.” This is where employers have employees complete job-related tasks without recording their time. Here are a few examples:

• Prep-work (completed to prepare the business for opening hours)
• After-hour cleaning (completed after the business has closed)
• Setting up registers (cashiers)
• Cash Counting at the end of the shift (cashiers)

Employers often try to pass this off as a “favor,” or they argue that setting up doesn’t count towards the hourly rate. However, this is no legal. All work for a job must be documented, and if this puts your weekly hours over 40, then your employer must pay you overtime rates for those additional hours. If this has happened to you, then you can file pay wage claims under Oregon law.

Oregon Overtime Law Exemptions

Oregon labor law classifies all employees as non-exempt, its default setting for employees, and entitles them to overtime pay. Employers must provide proof to change their employees status to exempt. By classifying them as exempt, employers would then be allowed not to pay those employees overtime pay.

The employer can prove this by showing that the employee receives a salary & carries out exempt employee duties.

The following employees are exempt under Oregon State Law:

• Administrative Employees
• Company Executives
• Fire Protection Employees
• Forest Fires
• Hospital Employees (in charge of operations)
• Irrigation System Employees
• Law Enforcement Officers (including security personnel at corrections institutions)
• Organized Militia Members (on state active duty)
• Supervisors

Do You Think You Have a Case? Contact Lemberg Law for Counsel

If you feel that an employer has taken advantage of you or someone you care about, please get in touch with the Lemberg Law legal team. Complete our form for a FREE case evaluation, or call  475-277-2200 NOW. You may be entitled to compensation for damages, injuries, or lost wages for Federal and state wage law violations.

About the Author:

Sergei Lemberg is a lawyer whose practice focuses on consumer law, class actions and personal injury litigation. He has been repeatedly recognized as the “most active consumer attorney” in the country. In 2020, Mr. Lemberg represented Noah Duguid in the United States Supreme Court in the case entitled Duguid v. Facebook. He is the author of Defanging Debt Collectors, a book that teaches consumers how to battle debt collectors and win.

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