Overview. On June 1, 2017, Oregon Governor Brown signed into law the Equal Pay Act of 2017 to address pay disparities among women, minorities, and other protected classes.
Effective Date(s). September 9, 2017 – Employers are prohibited from asking about prior salary history or using past or current compensation levels to set compensation. January 1. 2019 - Employees will have a private right of action.
Details. Oregon’s Equal Pay Act prohibits employers from compensating certain protected classes at a rate less than other employees for work requiring substantially similar knowledge, skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions. The Act expands the application of equal pay protections to all “protected classes.” Protected classes listed in the Act include race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status, veteran status, disability, and age. The Act provides that pay differences may be lawful only if based on certain factors, including a seniority system, a merit system, measurable differences in quality or quantity of work, work locations, travel, education, training, or experience. Employees who believe they have been discriminated against on the basis of unequal pay in violation of the Equal Pay Act will have a private right of action beginning January 1, 2019.
Salary History Inquiry Ban. Like the Massachusetts equal pay law which takes effect January 1, 2018, Oregon’s Equal Pay Act prohibits employers from seeking information about an applicant’s prior compensation or setting compensation based on the applicant’s past or current compensation levels. This part of the Act is scheduled to take effect on September 9, 2017, at which point the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) will have the authority to enforce it and issue civil fines.
Affirmative Defense for Self-Analysis and Correction. Also similar to the Massachusetts law, Oregon employers will have an affirmative defense to any action filed against them if, within three years before the date of the action, the employer completed an equal-pay analysis of the employer’s pay practices. The equal-pay analysis must be shown to have been completed in good faith, reasonable in detail and in scope, related to the protected class asserted by the plaintiff in the action, eliminated the wage differentials for the plaintiff and have made reasonable and substantial progress toward eliminating wage differentials.
An employer cannot eliminate wage disparities by reducing the compensation level of an employee. The bill provides that evidence of an equal-pay analysis is inadmissible in any other proceeding and that information that an employer has not completed an equal-pay analysis may not be used as evidence of a violation of the equal pay provision.
On January 1, 2019, employees will have a right of private action against prospective employers if asked about pay history.
Call to Action. Oregon employers should asses their hiring practices, and ensure they are not asking about an applicant’s prior salary history, and they are training recruiters on the requirements of this new law. Oregon employers who wish to perform a self-analysis of pay practices and pay equity, should consider involving legal counsel before doing so.