Noncompetition law in the context of employment (including independent contractor status) has the following general guidelines and is quite limited. The Washington legislature has defined a noncompetition covenant (or provision) to mean one in which an employee or independent contractor is prohibited or restrained from engaging in a lawful profession, trade, or business of any [...]
The Oregon legislature made some important changes to the statute governing noncompetition agreements in employment (ORS 653.295). These apply from 2022 forward. From 2022, agreements that do not meet the “criteria” are void instead of only voidable. This means the employee does not have to take extra steps to elect to void the agreement. Further, [...]
New restrictions on use of criminal background checks in hiring are now in place. The new law in Oregon and the ordinance recently passed by the Portland City Council both went into effect on January 1, 2016. In popular language the legislation is referred to as “ban the box” legislation, referring to the box in [...]
1. Introduction A noncompetition agreement in the employment context is a contract under which the employee agrees not to compete against the employer for a specified period, usually within a specified geographic area. Although a noncompetition agreement can be a separate agreement, non-competition clauses are sometimes part of a broader contract. The use of the [...]
In 2015 Oregon enacted House Bill 2007 which protects employee discussion of wages. The law applies to all employees, not only non-supervisory and non-managerial employees. The new law goes into effect January 1, 2016. Specifically, the new law provides: “It is an unlawful employment practice for an employer to discharge, demote or suspend, or to [...]
The 2015 legislature adopted Senate Bill 454 which mandates paid sick leave for employees of employers that employ 10 or more employees in the state (or at least 6 if located in Portland). The law requires a policy that either front-loads the employees with at least 40 hours of paid sick time at the beginning [...]
Governor Kate Brown signed House Bill 3236 into law. The effect is that in the employment context, 18 months is now the maximum length of time that a non-competition term can last pursuant to an agreement entered into at the time of employment or a bona fide promotion. That changes Oregon law, which previously set [...]
Noncompetition Agreement Update – Oregon Court of Appeals: Employment Noncompetition Agreement voidable, but not void, under ORS 653.295 if employee not notified of noncompetition term two weeks prior to employment: That was the holding of Bernard v. S.B., Inc., 270 Or App 710 (2014). The employee in that case contended that a noncompetition agreement was [...]
An employee is sometimes protected against retaliation for making reports of improper company conduct or improper conduct by another employee. While other laws pertaining to discrimination or retaliation may also apply, the key question in these cases is what constitutes whistleblowing. In Oregon, an employee may be protected for reporting either internally (within the company) or externally [...]
I usually do not find opinions where the plaintiff and defense bar were presumably arguing the same basic position. But there is such a recent Oregon Supreme Court Opinion. In Patton v. Target Corporation, Plaintiff alleged that he was demoted then fired by Target