| Welcome Jennifer Towne, our new staff attorney, to United Employers Association!
Jennifer has a JD from University of Michigan Law and a BA from the New School for Social Research. She's worked with small businesses for several years, volunteering at SCORE in Portland and acting as an advisor to businesses on behalf of Legalshield while working at law firm Kivel and Howard. In addition to advising businesses, Jennifer mediated family law and worked extensively in projects related to real property.
Jennifer is adept at negotiating complex transactions and acting as a solutions-oriented advisor to individuals and businesses. Her knowledge of employment law results from time spent resolving a broad array of issues faced by businesses from rural and urban areas of the Pacific Northwest.
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Employers face new reporting requirements under the Affordable Care Act in 2016. Employers will need to file forms with the IRS to reflect they are in compliance with health care reform's "shared responsibility" mandate to provide affordable health coverage to their employees. Click here to read more
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Washington Employers - Are You Ready for 2016?
Two laws going into effect on January 1, 2016 will affect certain Washington employers:
- Seattle Minimum Wage
- Washington PTO - Seattle and Tacoma area only
Click here to read more
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Oregon Employers - Are You Ready for 2016?
As you may know, Oregon has laws going into effect January 1, 2016 that significantly impact employers. The new laws include:
- Oregon paid sick leave;
- Protections for employees discussing wages in the workplace;
- Additional social media protections;
- Oregon's "ban the box" law;
- Requirements for gender neutral descriptions of marriage in existing laws; and
- Continuation of medical coverage under OFLA.
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Oregon Paid Sick Leave Law will likely mean changes to employer policies and practices.
Oregon's new paid sick leave law will require employers with 10 or more Oregon-based employees to give each worker up to 40 hours of paid sick leave per year. Employers of fewer than 10 employees (or fewer than six for Portland employers) must provide unpaid sick leave. Click here to read more
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Wage discussions are protected under new Oregon law.
HB 2007 A makes it unlawful to take negative employment action against an employee who inquires about or discloses his or her wage information or the wage information of another employee. Click here to read more
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Oregon makes changes to employee social media rules.
Under the new law it will be unlawful for an employer to require an employee or applicant to establish or maintain a personal social media account or to require that an employee or applicant allow the employer to advertise on his or her social media account. Click here to read more
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Banning the Box ... and Beyond.
On January 1, 2016, it will be an unlawful employment practice for an Oregon employer "to exclude an applicant from an initial interview solely because of a past criminal conviction." Portland has also passed its own version of "Ban the Box" Click here to read more
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Other Oregon changes for Employers
Additional changes that employers should be aware of include:
- OFLA amended to require continuation coverage for employees on leave
- Oregon statutes updated to utilize gender-neutral descriptions of marriage
- Domestic violence leave may be supplemented with any paid leave
- Noncompetition Agreements Limited to 18 Months
Click here to read more
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