As the 83rd Oregon Legislative Session approaches its end, several employment-related bills are still in play, and they could carry significant implications for businesses across the state. While none have been signed into law yet, the momentum behind them makes this a critical time for employers to pay attention and speak up.

Three proposals—SB 916…

Washington’s legislature has approved two bills poised to significantly reshape employer obligations around layoffs and job postings. Though not yet signed into law, both bills—if enacted—will require prompt action and policy updates from employers operating in the state.

Mini-WARN Act: More Notice, Broader Reach

Senate Bill 5525, modeled on the federal WARN Act, ups the…

In Bradsbery v. Vicar Operating, Inc., a California Court of Appeal answered a question that many California employers may not have known even needed to be answered—whether California employees can prospectively waive their mandatory meal periods.  Given the almost universal use of such waivers by employers (based on the assumption that the waivers are…

On April 23, 2025, President Trump issued a new executive order aimed at repealing disparate impact liability.  The order, titled “Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy”  (https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/restoring-equality-of-opportunity-and-meritocracy/), frames equal treatment under the law as “equality of opportunity, not equal outcomes.”

Disparate impact is a theory of liability that grew out of equal employment…

On Friday, March 14, 2025, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a preliminary injunction on President Trump’s Executive Orders regarding DEI.  In concurring opinions, the judges expressed varying levels of support for employers’ DEI initiatives.  However, the appellate panel agreed that the district court’s pre-implementation preliminary injunction was premature, and the Fourth Circuit stayed…

In the most recent indication of what employers can expect from the National Labor Relations Board under President Trump’s second term, the acting General Counsel for the Board, William Cowen, recently rescinded a series of memoranda issued by his predecessor, Jennifer Abruzzo, that employers regarded as overprotective of employee rights under the National Labor Relations…

On his second day in office, January 21, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.”  This Executive Order reverses roughly 60 years of federal policy and leaves many employers with questions about the future of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies and affirmative action programs (AAPs).  Federal contractors…

On January 21, 2025, the White House announced an Executive Order entitled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.”  The Order instructs federal agencies to take administrative and legal action against diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) programs, which it defines as systems of race- and sex-based preferences.  The Order is directed at both public- and…