Article
11 min read
A Guide to PEO in Oregon
PEO

Author
Deel Team
Published
September 10, 2024
Last Update
February 10, 2025

Key takeaways
- Collaborating with a PEO in Oregon helps companies effectively manage the intricate labor laws and regulations of the state, ensuring they remain compliant and minimize legal vulnerabilities.
- By working with an Oregon PEO, businesses can secure more cost-effective and extensive benefits packages for their employees, boosting their appeal in a competitive recruitment environment.
- Small businesses and startups in Oregon benefit from partnering with a PEO, gaining access to professional HR and payroll services, which allows them to concentrate on expanding and evolving their operations.
For Oregon employers, establishing effective strategies to handle the state's complex and evolving labor and employment regulations is a top priority. Professional employment organizations (PEOs) can play a crucial role in this, particularly for CFOs and finance teams tasked with overseeing compliance in addition to their financial responsibilities.
Continue reading to discover more about how using a PEO in Oregon can benefit your business.
The benefits of partnering with a PEO in Oregon
Oregon companies can streamline their operations and improve employee satisfaction by outsourcing HR and payroll tasks to a PEO.
Cost-savings and efficiency gains in HR
Utilizing a PEO to outsource tasks can optimize your organization's HR functions, improving both efficiency and cost-effectiveness. For example, PEOs often reduce expensive labor hours by using HR tech platforms that automate and simplify payroll processing and supply real-time analytics. This also allows your team to focus on data-driven strategy development rather than repetitive and time-consuming administration.
PEOs often offer a more predictable pricing model, which can help limit unforeseen costs.
Deel PEO
Access localized expertise
Small businesses and startups often lack the resources to maintain in-house payroll and HR expertise across multiple states. By partnering with a PEO, they can tap into a wealth of local knowledge and resources that would otherwise be inaccessible. This support includes:
- Compliance with state and federal laws and regulations
- Payroll and tax withholding and filing
- Benefits administration
- Recruitment and hiring
- Onboarding employees
- Worker classification
- Unemployment compensation claims
- Workplace policies
- Data privacy
- Reporting
Collaboration with a PEO empowers HR teams, CFOs, and Finance departments to make compliant and strategic decisions based on localized expert insights.
Affordable employee benefits plans
Attractive benefits packages support your acquisition and retention of top talent. Because PEOs co-employ many employees, they're able to offer client companies competitive rates on benefits, such as health insurance, life and disability insurance, and retirement plans. PEOs enable companies in Oregon, regardless of their size, to offer comprehensive employee benefits packages and perks that rival those of larger corporations.
As Oregon requires all employers to secure workers’ compensation, your PEO can also help you arrange insurance with a certified carrier. You can ensure you’re compliant while finding the most cost-effective packages.
Additionally, PEO services provide the flexibility to maintain relationships with your current benefit providers while they handle much of the compliance and administrative burdens.
Enhanced compliance and reduced legal risks
When you partner with a PEO, you enter into a co-employment relationship. You maintain responsibility for your day-to-day workforce management, while the PEO assumes responsibility for ensuring compliance with federal requirements and state-specific legislation.
You offload legal liabilities and compliance risk to the PEO for payroll, employment tax, labor laws, and more. This protects your organization from the potential financial, reputational, and legal repercussions of non-compliance with payroll, employment, and labor laws in Oregon.
Compliance is becoming increasingly important in Oregon. The state bureau recently announced a crackdown where they’ll enforce more penalties for wage theft, regardless of whether the business has settled with employees.
Payroll, employment, and labor laws in Oregon
Employers in Oregon must adhere to federal employment laws and contributions outlined in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), including federal unemployment tax, unemployment insurance, social security taxes, and Medicare taxes. Moreover, Oregon imposes its own specific rules regarding leave and paid time off, union rights, and additional labor regulations.
A PEO can streamline your organization’s compliance with the following legislation, and more:
Payroll and benefits laws
State income tax
Oregon has a progressive income tax system, with tax rates ranging from 4.75% to 9.9% based on income brackets, allowances, and filing status.
Minimum wage
The state minimum wage is adjusted annually on July 1, based on a set formula. The basic minimum wage rates in Oregon for 2024/2025 are as follows:
- Standard state rate: $14.70 per hour
- Portland Metro Area: $15.95 per hour
- Non-urban counties: $13.70 per hour
There's no exception for tipped employees in Oregon, who must be paid the full applicable state minimum wage before tips.
Overtime
Overtime compensation for non-exempt employees is mandatory in Oregon, paid at a premium rate of 1.5 times the employee's regular rate.
Overtime applies as standard after 40 hours of work per week. Employees of manufacturers, factories, non-farm canneries, driers, packing plants, and mills (excluding logging camps, sawmills, shingle mills, and planning mills) are entitled to overtime after working 10 hours per day.
Sick leave
Employers must provide paid sick leave if they have 10 or more employees (six or more in Portland). This leave covers illness, injury, or care for immediate family members.
Employees accrue sick leave at a rate of one hour per 30 hours worked up to a limit of 40. You can choose to frontload these hours at the start of the year.
Your employees can’t take sick leave until they’ve been working for you for at least 90 days.
Family leave
Oregon recently introduced Paid Leave Oregon which enables employees to take paid time off for medical reasons, including care work and pregnancy.
The current rate is 1% of gross wages up to $176,100. As the employer, you may be responsible for up to 60%.
Additionally, if you have 25 employees or more, the Oregon Family Leave Act protects their right to leave for up to 24 weeks. They can take leave for medical reasons, pregnancy-related issues, bereavement, and family care.
The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) complements OFLA by offering up to 12 weeks of leave for serious health conditions of the employee or certain family members, and for specific military-related reasons.
PTO
Oregon doesn't mandate paid vacation or holiday pay. However, if an employer offers PTO, it must be documented and consistently applied.
Paydays and pay periods
Employers must establish regular paydays. They cannot exceed 35 days between pay periods.
Final paychecks
Oregon law mandates that final paychecks be given by the end of the next business working day for employees who are fired or laid off. Employees who quit must receive their final pay within five business days or on the next regular payday, whichever comes first.
Pay transparency laws
Oregon doesn’t have a pay transparency law but employers are prohibited from asking for an applicant's salary history.
Military family leave
The Oregon Military Family Leave Act (OMFLA) provides up to 14 days of leave per deployment for employees whose spouse or domestic partner is called to or on active military duty.
Leave for fostering or adopting a child
From January 2025, OFLA has incorporated an extra two weeks of paid leave on top of the standard 12 weeks for legal processes related to foster placement or adoption.
Workers’ compensation and labor laws
Worker safety regulations
Employers must provide a safe and healthy work environment as required by Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The program arranges inspections as a standard response to complaints, accidents, and fatalities.
Right to work
Oregon doesn't have right-to-work laws, meaning union membership can be required as a condition of employment in unionized workplaces.
Meal breaks and rest periods
All Oregon employees are entitled to the following breaks in a standard eight-hour shift:
- Two 10-minute paid breaks
- One 30-minute unpaid break
The only exception is employees under a collective bargaining agreement.
For all other length shifts, refer to the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries table.
In addition to meal breaks, Oregon employees must be given at least a 10-minute rest period for every 4-hour work period, to be taken around the middle of the work period.
Employment laws
At-will employment
Oregon is an at-will employment state, meaning employers can terminate employees for any reason (except for illegal reasons such as discrimination), and employees can quit at any time.
Worker classification
Employers must properly classify workers as employees or independent contractors. Misclassification can lead to penalties. Oregon bases worker classification on two primary factors: the employer’s level of control and the employee’s financial dependence on the company.
Discrimination
Oregon prohibits employment discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, and other protected classes. Complaints can be filed through the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI).
Non-compete agreements
Oregon limits the enforcement of non-compete agreements to protect workers. Non-competes must meet specific legal requirements to be valid. For example, you must send the agreement to candidates two weeks before extending a formal job offer.
Equal pay
Oregon’s equal pay laws ensure that workers receive equal compensation for comparable work, regardless of gender or other protected characteristics.
Additional requirements and enforcements
Beyond these laws, Oregon employers are responsible for contributing to the state’s unemployment insurance (UI) program. The current rates range from 0% to 5.4% with a fixed rate of 2.4% for new employers. The taxable wage base is $54,300.
Oregon may also have specific laws and guidelines for your industry. Where these laws overlap with federal requirements, you’re generally expected to follow the rules that give workers the greatest rights.
See also: Your Ultimate Guide to Oregon Payroll
A PEO ensures your organization meets Oregon’s specific requirements and avoids any penalties for non-compliance.
Choosing the right PEO for your organization
The following steps will help you select the PEO which best aligns with your business needs and goals.
1. Define your business needs
Start by conducting a thorough analysis of your current and projected HR-related expenditures, identifying areas where a PEO could offer savings or efficiencies. This includes understanding your requirements for payroll management, benefits administration, HR compliance, and risk management, as well as considering how these services can scale with your company’s expansion.
2. Research PEOs with Oregon expertise
Search for PEOs with a strong presence and a proven track record in Oregon. Look for case studies, client testimonials, and examples of their success in navigating the state’s complex labor laws and business environment.
3. Evaluate its services and benefits
Examine the PEO’s offerings to ensure they meet your company’s specific needs. Assess the quality and cost-effectiveness of the benefits packages provided and whether the PEO offers customizable solutions that can adapt to your company’s changing requirements.
4. Assess capabilities for risk management and compliance
Find out the PEO’s approach to managing continuous compliance with Oregon’s labor laws and their capacity to mitigate risks related to employment practices and workplace safety. This is crucial for reducing potential liabilities and ensuring regulatory compliance.
5. Verify customer service and support
Check the PEO’s reputation for customer service and support. Consider their responsiveness, the availability of dedicated support teams, and the tech they use for managing employee services.
6. Review the contract and negotiate it
Review the PEO contract’s terms, conditions, fees, and exit clauses, with the help of legal advisors if necessary. Compare its pricing structure with other PEOs, whether you pay a fixed monthly fee per employee or a percentage of the overall payroll. It’s important to negotiate terms that serve your company’s interests, ensuring flexibility, transparency, and a clear understanding of responsibilities.
7. Plan for implementation and transition
Communicate changes to systems and processes to your employees to support ongoing collaboration with the PEO.
Manage your Oregon, US, and global workers with Deel
Deel makes managing payroll and HR functions easy, whether you’re hiring in one state, across the country, or around the world.
As your PEO*, Deel takes care of payroll, HR, and benefits administration while ensuring state tax compliance and handling sensitive issues. We provide:
- Advanced tax and benefits compliance
- Expert payroll administration
- Access to benefit plans from leading carriers and benefits administration
- Robust HRIS with free IT, Finance, and PTO management
- State-specific trainings, HR policies, and on-demand HR support
- And more
Book a demo
Book a demo to learn more about using Deel’s PEO in Oregon.
*Provided by Deel PEO US, LLC, Deel Employment Services, LLC, or through Deel's partnership with licensed providers where required.
This article is intended for informational purposes and shouldn't be considered legal advice. Consult a qualified licensed attorney for help on legal issues. Content is accurate at the time of publishing.