As many of you know, effective January 1, 2026, Oregon law will require employers to provide employees in Oregon with specific information about the earnings and deductions that will be reflected on their paystubs/wage statements at the time of hire. This includes a written explanation of the following:
- The employer’s established regular pay period;
- A comprehensive list of
- All types of pay rates that employees may be eligible for, including hourly pay, salary pay, shift differentials, piece-rate pay, and commission-based pay,
- All benefit deductions and contributions, and
- Every type of deduction that may apply;
- The purpose of deductions that may be made during a regular pay period;
- Allowances, if any, claimed as part of minimum wage;
- Employer-provided benefits that may appear on the itemized statements as contributions and deductions; and
- All payroll codes used for pay rates and deductions, along with a detailed description or definition of each code.
An employer may satisfy this new requirement by sharing a link to a website that stores this information for the employer, posting a physical document in a central location, sharing an electronic file, or delivering the information via email. Employers must also review and update the information by January 1 of each year.
While current employer policies may already include most, if not all, of the detail required by this new law, employers should review their payroll-related policies to confirm compliance with these changes. Today, Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) published a template notice in both English and Spanish that employers may refer to and/or adapt to meet the above requirements. Note that BOLI’s template notice only includes examples of the type of information that an employer might include. Accordingly, it will be important for employers to think critically about their current practices and/or benefit offerings, to ensure the information provided in their notice is accurate.
Key Takeaways for Employers
- Review your payroll-related policies and/or information provided to employees about their wage statements to identify whether the upcoming changes require you to supplement the information already provided to employees.
- Take an inventory of the possible types of compensation and/or benefits offered to employees to ensure all possible deductions or contributions are captured in the notice.
- Consider how you would like to disseminate this notice to employees.
- The new law requires employers to review and update this information on an annual basis, so employers should make a plan to ensure it engages in this review before the start of each calendar year.
- Consult counsel for further guidance, as needed.
The legal issues impacting this topic are and will continue to be ever-changing (Employment Law in Motion!), and since publication of this blog post, new or additional information not referenced in this blog post may be available.
This article is provided for informational purposes only—it does not constitute legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship between the firm and the reader. Readers should consult legal counsel before taking action relating to the subject matter of this article.
