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Employer defined
“Employer” means any person in this state who, directly or through an agent, engages or utilizes the personal service of one or more employees, reserving the right to control the means by which such service is or will be performed.
“Employer” also includes any public body that, directly or through an agent, engages or utilizes the personal service of one or more employees, reserving the right to control the means by which such service is or will be performed, including all officers, agencies, departments, divisions, bureaus, boards and commissions of the legislative, judicial and administrative branches of the state, all county and city governing bodies, school districts, special districts, municipal corporations and all other political subdivisions of the state.
Unlawful employment practices
The unlawful employment practices and exemptions are similar to those under the federal Guidelines on Discrimination Because of Religion. For example, the state law requires employers to make reasonable accommodations. State law specifically requires employers to permit the use of vacation or other paid leave as part of an accommodation.
A reasonable accommodation imposes an undue hardship if the accommodation requires significant difficulty or expense (this is a more stringent standard than federal law, which provides for more than a de minimis cost). For the purpose of determining whether an accommodation requires significant difficulty or expense, the following factors shall be considered:
(a) The nature and the cost of the accommodation needed.
(b) The overall financial resources of the facility or facilities involved, the number of persons employed at the facility and the effect on expenses and resources, or other impacts on the operation of the facility caused by the accommodation.
(c) The overall financial resources of the employer, the overall size of the business of the employer with respect to the number of persons employed by the employer and the number, type and location of the employer's facilities.
(d) The type of business operations conducted by the employer, including the composition, structure and functions of the workforce of the employer and the geographic separateness and administrative or fiscal relationship of the facility or facilities of the employer.
(e) The safety and health requirements in a facility, including requirements for the safety of other employees and any other person whose safety may be adversely impacted by the requested accommodation.
(f) Effective July 1, 2011, Oregon adopts the following additional consideration fors schools: The degree to which an accommodation may constrain the obligation of a school district, education service district, or public charter school to maintain a religiously neutral work environment. A reasonable accommodation imposes an undue hardship if the accommodation would constrain the legal obligation of a school district, education service district, or public charter school to maintain religious neutrality in the school environment, or refrain from endorsing religion.
Posting
A covered employer must post a notice of the requirements of ORS 659A.150 to 659A.186 in every establishment in which employees are employed.
Contact
Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries Civil Rights Division
Regulations
Oregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 659 — Miscellaneous Prohibitions Relating to Employment and Discrimination
www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors659.html
Oregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 659A, Unlawful Discrimination in Employment
https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors659a.html
Oregon Administrative Rules, Title 839, Division 5, Discrimination
http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/pages/rules/oars_800/oar_839/839_005.html
Contact
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
Regulations
29 CFR Part 1605, Guidelines on Discrimination Because of Religion