12 Oregon Trucking Association, Inc. Oregon Truck Dispatch with industry to craft a more narrowly tailored bill that could pass in the 2024 short session. HB 4127 (2024) requires an employer of warehouse workers to provide information to their employees about any quota to which the employee is subject. It stipulates that the employer may not take an adverse action against an employee for failure to meet a quota for which the employee did not receive written documentation. Employees may request records if they are disciplined for failure to meet a quota, and it requires the employer to provide such records free of charge. Drivers are not included under the bill. Especially given how problematic last year’s bill was and how well negotiated this year’s bill was, industry was neutral on the bill, and it passed through the final chamber on the last day of session. Paid Family and Medical Leave Act SB 1514 was introduced as a Senate Labor and Business Committee bill to ensure the Paid Leave Oregon program fund remains sustainable. Oregon’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Act was passed in the 2019 session and employers began making contributions in January 2023. Nine months later, the program began seeing benefits being paid to employees who qualify. While the existing law includes some measures to address the solvency of the fund should issues arise, Sen. Kathleen Taylor (D-Portland) wanted to ensure the program would continue to serve Oregonians well into the future. SB 1514 requires the Director of the Oregon Employment Department (OED) to conduct regular assessments of the program fund and to take action if the fund is not sufficient to cover six months of anticipated costs. There are guardrails in place that require OED to provide advanced public notification of the changes and specifies that these changes can only be effective for up to five years. The policy had been negotiated with the business community ahead of session and no changes were made throughout the legislative process. The bill sailed through both chambers, receiving a 27-0-3 and a 50-3-7 vote in the Senate and House respectively. SB 1515 also addressed Oregon’s Paid Family Leave program, making several technical changes that: • Require the OED to report to the legislature on the payment of benefits to seasonal employees. • Require OED and the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) to 2024 Legislative Session, cont.
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