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Bend Chamber
Weekly
May 22, 2009
By Courtney Linville, Communications Coordinator
This Week's
Highlights
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Next
Week’s Special Edition of Chamber Weekly
Be on the
lookout for next week’s special edition of Chamber
Weekly which will highlight various ways to maximize
your Chamber membership.
With summer fast approaching, it’s a great time for a
reminder on different tools you can use.
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Town Hall Forum
Recap: Oregon Legislative Update: Employment
Bills
Last Friday’s Town Hall entitled “Oregon Legislative
Update: Employment Bills” allowed Chamber members
the opportunity to explore employment bills that are
currently either in committee or before the State
Legislature. Katherine Tank from Schwabe, Williamson
& Wyatt, PC, lead the forum and told those in
attendance to be prepared for several
employment bills at both the federal and the state
level. Going through each bill, Tank allowed members to look at the
nuts and bolts of the bills, and how they could
influence the workplace if passed.
Listed below are just a few of the bills talked
about at Town Hall with abbreviated discussion:
Senate 358: This bill relates to an employer’s
liability for punitive damages. The employer would
not be liable for the wrongdoing of an employee
unless the employer knew that the employee intended to
commit the wrong, and the employer failed to take
action to prevent it from happening. The bill does
limit liability of employers, but the employer is
required to act on any knowledge that an employee
intended harm. Tank says this could be a good bill
for some employers.
Senate Bill 426: This would allow an employer to
refuse to accommodate medical use of marijuana,
regardless of where the use occurs. It also allows
the establishment of a drug-free workforce policy.
Tank believes this bill will not likely go far
because it hasn’t had a hearing yet, and is unlikely
to get one. There are several bills focused around
the uses of Medical Marijuana. Some go back and
forth between drug policies and a zero tolerance
policy. One bill that is apparently gaining some
traction would require employees to be drug tested.
The tests would be reviewed by a medical review
officer. If a test was positive, and the employee
produces a medical marijuana card, the officer can
decide at that point if the employee is fit or unfit
for the job. In this instance, the employer would
never know they have an employee with a medical
marijuana card or if they use the substance at work.
Tank says this option would be more expensive and
most employers want to make the decision about an
employee being fit for the job.
Senate Bill 519: This bill would reduce an
employer’s ability to combat union organized
activities. The “captive audience” legislation would
make it unlawful to discharge or penalize an
employee who decides not to attend an
employer-sponsored meeting if the primary purpose is
to discuss religious or political matters. In the
bill “political matters” is being defined as
discussions about supporting or joining labor
unions. There is also some movement on the federal
level for a bill like this.
Senate Bill 786: This bill would ultimately impose
additional duties to accommodate religious
observances and practices. Essentially, this bill is
open to all religions, not just recognized faiths.
At this time under civil rights law, employers have
to make some effort to accommodate religious beliefs
and practices. Under this new bill, it would
increase the burden on the employer to show that
accommodating the practice would cause undo
hardship.
Senate Bill 830: Currently, the minimum wage is
adjusted statewide each year according to increases
in the Consumer Price Index. Many people think this
is not a good idea today, and minimum wage should be
set based on locality. Under this proposal, minimum
wage would be based on the median income of the
locality. Tank says this could be a benefit to
Central Oregon.
House Bill 2831: This bill narrows the definition of
a supervisory employee for purposes of public sector
collective bargaining. The bill also prevents a
governmental entity from hiring permanent
replacements for striking workers. Tank explains the
bill may make it more difficult for a public
employer to settle a strike in a timely fashion and
continue services in case of a strike, by
prohibiting the hiring of permanent replacements.
This bill would not affect the private sector
employers.
House Bill 2890: This bill restricts individuals who
may be classified as independent contractors. This
bill would reduce the flexibility of business to
hire contractors and would add confusion when a
business is hiring any kind of contract labor for
personal services (plumber, Web site developer,
etc.) The bill even imposes criminal penalties for
misclassification. Tank says this is a bill that
needs to be watched and it does have some traction
at this time.
Overall, Tank described the current climate as an
“employer beware environment.” She said more
employees are filing claims and employers need to
make sure they are dotting all of their i’s and
crossing all of their t’s.
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Deschutes County
to hold Public Hearing on Establishing Home Rule
Charter Committee
On Wednesday, June 10, the Deschutes County
Commissioners plan to hold a public hearing to gauge
public support for the formation of a home rule
charter review committee. If established, the
committee would review options for a home rule
charter form of county government for Deschutes
County. Currently, 9 of Oregon’s 36 counties have
charters.
The hearing will be held in the Board of County
Commissioner's Hearing Room on the first floor of
the Deschutes County Services Center at 1300 NW Wall
Street in Bend.
If you are unable to attend the hearing, you may send
your written opinion about establishing a home rule
charter review committee to the Deschutes County
Commissioners at
board@co.deschutes.or.us .
Prior to Tuesday, June 9 at 5:00 p.m., you may send
letters by fax to 385-3202, or by mail to:
Deschutes County Services Center
Attn: BOCC/Home Rule Charter
1300 NW Wall Street, Ste. 200
Bend, OR 97701
In all written testimony, please enclose your
contact information including your name, home
address, contact phone and email address.
For more information about this hearing
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Sponsorships available
for Summer Opener Golf Tournament
Does your business need “face time” with potential
clients? Would you like the opportunity to talk with
decision-makers? If you answered yes to these
questions then you need to be a sponsor at the
Summer Opener golf tournament.
This year the tournament will be held at the beautiful
Broken Top Club and looks to have a full complement
of golfers. The sponsorships that we have left are
as follows: Title, Cart, 1 Dinner, Driving Range and
a few Tee. The rest of the spots are filled so
don’t delay!
This is your opportunity to market to 144 golfers and
all the other sponsors at this fabulous event.
Contact Ann Gates at the Chamber to discuss your
needs to find the perfect fit for your business at
382-3221 or by email at
ann@bendchamber.org.
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In the News:
Representative Stiegler Wins Fight for OSU-Cascades:
Bend’s OSU-Cascades campus will not face closure
according to the 2009-2011 legislative budget
released earlier this week. The legislature is
looking for ways to fill a nearly $4 billion hole
for the 2009-2011 biennium and the OSU campus was on
the potential chopping block. Rep. Judy Stiegler
(D-Bend), a member of the Ways and Means
Subcommittee on Education, made keeping OSU-Cascades
open a priority. “The branch was opened to provide
Central Oregonians access to higher education,
particularly those students who could not afford to
attend a four-year college any other way. That need
has only increased over the past two years,”
Stiegler said in a recent release. “OSU-Cascades is
an important economic development tool for the
region. It helps attract new business and enables
employees and students to develop new skills,
something that we need in a tough economic climate.”
Governor Comments on Oregon’s Unemployment Rates:
The State of Oregon is seeing some stabilization
in unemployment rates for the first time since 2007,
with rates for April remaining flat. “Today’s
unemployment rate gives us some hope that our economy
is no longer in free fall, and that the efforts by
President Obama to provide a parachute for our
economy are starting to deliver results,” said
Governor Ted Kulongoski in a news release on Monday.
“While the unemployment rate has remained flat for
the last month, there are still thousands of
Oregonians looking for work to support themselves
and their families. To those Oregonians seeking
employment, let me assure you creating jobs is my
number one priority.” The state’s rate for April
sits at 12 percent which is just slightly above
March’s revised numbers of 11 percent. Last week
State Economist Tom Potiowsky said Oregon might not
recover from the economic slump until 2011. He also
says the state might see further increases in
the unemployment rate by hitting at least 14 percent
in the next year. Kulongoski says he will continue
to find ways to help Oregonians. On Friday, he
unveiled a plan for an emergency jobs program that
would employ 12,000 Oregonians during the summer.
“If I could, I would lift the dark veil of this
economic downturn immediately, but I can’t do that,”
Kulongoski said. “So, today our minds must be
focused on putting our citizens back to work – and
if we do that, I promise you there is a better day
coming for Oregon.” Unemployment numbers should be
released for Central Oregon sometime next week.
Update on South Century Drive Construction:
During Memorial Day weekend, road construction on
South Century Drive will be suspended. The
suspension will start at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 22 and
run until 6 a.m. on Tuesday, May 26. Drivers need to
be aware water trucks might be utilized over the
weekend for dust abasement. For more information on
the project, go to
www.wfl.fhwa.dot.gov/projects/.
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Upcoming Events
June 9 – Professional
Development Series – Preventing & Detecting Small
Business Fraud – Do you know if your
business has been a victim of fraud? How about
employee theft? In today’s economy, these are
realities many businesses are facing. Many business
owners are now looking at a variety of measures they
can use to detect and prevent fraudulent activity.
In this session, representatives from Jones & Roth
CPAs will provide a myriad of information on fraud
and fraud prevention. Attendees will get the chance
to look at statistics of the prevalence of fraud,
reasons for the activities, and typical employee
profiles. The presentation will include example
cases that point out the long term nature of
fraudulent activities spanning years and decades. It
is often not large amounts, but small amounts over
years of time that are felt by businesses. The Jones
& Roth representatives will also cover a variety of
no cost/low cost preventative measures business
owners or managers can implement today to prevent
and detect fraudulent activities. Please RSVP for
this event by not later than noon on Monday, June 8
at
www.bendchamber.org. If you have trouble signing
up, call 382-3221.
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