Oregon wage and hour laws set regional minimum wages that adjust every July, require overtime pay after 40 hours in a workweek (and after 10 hours in a day for manufacturing), guarantee paid rest breaks and a 30-minute meal period on shifts of six hours or more, and impose some of the country’s strictest deadlines for final paychecks. Oregon also bars employers from counting tips toward the minimum wage, limits what can be deducted from your pay, and lets you recover unpaid wages (plus penalties) through the Bureau of Labor and Industries.
Minimum Wage by Region
Oregon’s minimum wage depends on where you actually work, not where your employer is headquartered. From July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026, the three rates are:
- Portland metro: $16.30 per hour, inside the urban growth boundary of the Portland metropolitan service district (parts of Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties).
- Standard: $15.05 per hour, covering counties like Benton, Deschutes, Jackson, Lane, and Marion, plus the parts of Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties outside the urban growth boundary.
- Nonurban: $14.05 per hour, covering rural counties including Baker, Coos, Curry, Douglas, Klamath, and Umatilla.
The rates reset each July 1 for inflation under ORS 653.025.1Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 653.025 – Minimum Wage Rate; Rules By formula, Portland metro stays $1.25 above the standard rate and nonurban stays $1.00 below it.2Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. Oregon Minimum Wage
Tips Don’t Count Toward Minimum Wage
Oregon doesn’t allow a tip credit. Every tipped worker must receive the full applicable minimum wage as base pay, with tips entirely on top. A Portland server earns at least $16.30 an hour before the first dollar in tips comes in.
Overtime Pay
Most non-exempt employees earn overtime once they pass 40 hours in a single workweek, paid at a minimum of 1.5 times their regular hourly rate. Under OAR 839-020-0030, your employer picks the seven consecutive 24-hour periods that make up the workweek, and that starting point can only be changed if the change is permanent and not intended to avoid overtime.3Oregon Revised Statutes. OAR 839-020-0030 – Payment of Overtime Wages – Generally
Manufacturing is different. Workers in manufacturing establishments earn overtime after 10 hours in a single day, regardless of weekly totals. Cannery and seafood processing workers have their own daily overtime rules.4Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. BOLI Overtime
If you work unauthorized overtime, your employer still owes the premium rate. They can discipline you for breaking a policy against unapproved hours, but they cannot withhold the pay. Hours worked are hours owed.
When Salaried Employees Are Exempt
A salaried employee in an executive, administrative, or professional role can be exempt from overtime only if the position meets both a duties test and a minimum salary. Oregon ties its salary floor to the regional minimum wage, calculated by multiplying that rate by 2,080 hours and dividing by 12.5Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. BOLI – Salaried Exempt Employees The federal Fair Labor Standards Act applies at the same time and currently sets a floor of $684 per week ($35,568 annually) after a court vacated a 2024 rule that would have raised it. Employers must pay whichever threshold is higher, and for most Oregon positions right now the federal number controls.6U.S. Department of Labor. Earnings Thresholds for the Executive, Administrative, and Professional Exemption Being paid a salary alone does not make a job exempt; the duties have to qualify too.
Rest and Meal Breaks
Oregon requires both, with the specifics in OAR 839-020-0050.7Oregon Public Law. OAR 839-020-0050 – Meal and Rest Periods Rest breaks run 10 minutes, paid, for every four-hour segment of work, and should fall near the middle of the segment. You must be completely relieved of duties during the break.
Meal periods are 30 minutes, triggered by any shift of six hours or more. For the meal period to be unpaid, you have to be fully relieved of all duties. If you’re on-call, answering phones, or handling any task during that 30 minutes, your employer owes you for the full period.8Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. BOLI – Meals and Breaks
Breaks stack on long shifts. A 10-hour shift gets two rest breaks and one meal period. If the nature of the work genuinely prevents a break, the employer carries the burden of showing an undue hardship.
Paydays and Pay Stubs
Every employer must set a regular payday, and under ORS 652.120 the interval between paydays cannot exceed 35 days from the start of employment or from the last payday.9Oregon Revised Statutes. ORS 652.120 – Establishing Regular Payday; Pay Intervals Each check comes with an itemized statement showing gross and net wages, hours worked, pay rates, and the amount and purpose of every deduction.10Oregon Revised Statutes. ORS 652.610 – Itemized Statement of Amounts and Purposes of Deductions
Final Paycheck Deadlines
When employment ends, the clock on your final check depends on how it ended:
- Fired or laid off: all earned wages are due by the end of the next business day.11Oregon Revised Statutes. ORS 652.140 – Payment of Wages on Termination of Employment
- Quit with at least 48 hours’ notice: the final check is due on your last working day. If that lands on a weekend or holiday, the next business day applies.
- Quit without 48 hours’ notice: five business days or the next regular payday, whichever comes first.
The deadline covers everything you earned: hourly wages, commissions, and any vested bonuses. Miss it willfully, and ORS 652.150 keeps your wages running at eight hours a day at the regular rate until paid, up to 30 days.12Oregon Revised Statutes. ORS 652.150 – Penalty Wage for Failure to Pay Wages on Termination On a $20-an-hour wage, the penalty can reach $4,800, which routinely dwarfs the amount originally owed.13Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. BOLI – Paychecks
What Can Be Deducted From Your Pay
Under ORS 652.610, a paycheck deduction is only lawful if it fits one of these categories:10Oregon Revised Statutes. ORS 652.610 – Itemized Statement of Amounts and Purposes of Deductions
- Required by law: federal and state taxes, Social Security, Medicare, and court-ordered garnishments.
- Voluntary and for your benefit: health insurance premiums, retirement contributions, and the like, with your written authorization.
- Voluntary payments to a third party: charitable contributions or union dues, where your employer is not the ultimate recipient and you signed off in writing.
- Authorized by a collective bargaining agreement.
Employers cannot deduct for cash register shortages, broken equipment, uniforms, or tools if doing so drops your pay below minimum wage. Even with written consent, deductions that shift ordinary business costs onto workers face heavy scrutiny. Your employer also cannot pull back a prior overpayment through a paycheck deduction unless a collective bargaining agreement specifically authorizes it.14Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. BOLI – Paycheck Deductions
Equal Pay and Salary History
Oregon’s Equal Pay Act, codified at ORS 652.220, bars different wages for comparable work based on a protected class, including race, sex, age, and disability, among others.15Oregon Revised Statutes. ORS 652.220 – Prohibition of Discriminatory Wage Rates Based on Protected Class A pay gap is defensible only when the entire difference is explained by one or more recognized factors: seniority, merit, a production-based system, workplace location, travel requirements, education, training, or experience. Market rate or negotiation history is not a defense.
The law also prohibits salary history screening. Employers cannot ask about or rely on your current or past compensation to set your pay, which stops past underpayment from following you between jobs. If a wage gap exists, the employer has to fix it by raising the lower wage, not cutting the higher one.
Sick Time and Paid Leave Oregon
Oregon runs two separate programs. State sick time, which every employer must provide, accrues at one hour for every 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours per year. Employers with 10 or more employees must pay for the time; smaller employers must still let you take it unpaid. You can use accrued sick time for your own illness, to care for a family member, or for reasons tied to domestic violence, harassment, or stalking.
Paid Leave Oregon is a statewide insurance program funded by a 1% payroll contribution, with employees paying 60% and employers of 25 or more paying 40%. Contributions apply to wages up to $176,100 in 2025.16Paid Leave Oregon. Employees and Paid Leave Oregon Eligible workers can take up to 12 weeks of paid leave for their own serious health condition, to bond with a new child, or for issues related to domestic violence or sexual assault, with up to two more weeks available for pregnancy-related conditions.
Protection From Retaliation
Before raising a wage issue, know that the law protects you for doing it. Under ORS 659A.355, your employer cannot fire, demote, suspend, or otherwise retaliate against you for asking about wages, discussing pay with coworkers, or filing a wage complaint.17Oregon Revised Statutes. ORS 659A.355 – Discrimination Based on Wage Discussions or Complaints The protection covers both formal complaints to BOLI and informal conversations at work.
Section 15(a)(3) of the federal FLSA adds a second layer, making retaliation illegal for filing a complaint, participating in an investigation, or testifying in a proceeding. Remedies include reinstatement, back pay, and liquidated damages equal to the lost wages.18U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 77A – Prohibiting Retaliation Under the Fair Labor Standards Act Oral or written complaints both count, and most courts have held that internal complaints to the employer are protected activity.
Filing a Wage Claim With BOLI
If your employer owes you wages, you can file through the Bureau of Labor and Industries’ Complaint Resolution Center. The process starts on BOLI’s website, where you describe the employer, the nature of the violation, and the amount you believe is owed.19State of Oregon. BOLI – Wage Claim Pay stubs, time records, and written communications strengthen the claim significantly.
Once filed, BOLI evaluates the complaint and may investigate by contacting both parties and pulling payroll records. Many cases settle through conciliation. If no agreement is reached, the agency can issue a determination with legal force. You can also skip the administrative route and sue in court. Wage claims are subject to time limits, so filing promptly after you discover the unpaid wages matters.