4/15/25 New Oregon Minimum Wage Rates Announced

April 15, 2025

By Abby Fitts

On April 11, 2025, Oregon’s Labor Commissioner Christina Stephenson announced Oregon’s new minimum wage rates based on a 2.4% Consumer Price Index increase from March 2024 through March 2025. The annual automatic increases to Oregon’s minimum wage are effective each July 1 and are indexed to year-over-year inflation based on the CPI.

New Minimum Wage Rates

These are the new minimum hourly wage rates for each region in Oregon effective July 1, 2025:

• Portland metro area within the urban growth boundary: $16.30

• Standard minimum wage: $15.05

• Non-urban Oregon: $14.05

The “standard minimum wage” applies to Benton, Clatsop, Columbia, Deschutes, Hood River, Jackson, Josephine, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Polk, Tillamook, Wasco, and Yamhill counties as well as parts of Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties outside the urban growth boundary.

Oregon’s non-urban minimum wage rate applies in Baker, Coos, Crook, Curry, Douglas, Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Jefferson, Klamath, Lake, Malheur, Morrow, Sherman, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, and Wheeler counties.

Employers can determine if an employee is working within the urban growth boundary by referring to this Metro map.

Compliance Reminders
Employers should take the time now to ensure their wage rates are consistent with the new minimum wage rates and should remember that the minimum wage rate depends on where the employees perform their work. Employers are required to display an updated minimum wage poster in a conspicuous place. BOLI will make free, updated posters available for download on their website by June 15.

 We are here to help. Please contact Abby Fitts at afitts@barran.com or 503-276-2190, or your regular Barran Liebman attorney for assistance in reviewing your wage and hour compliance. 

4/14/25 Facing a Chaotic Market: Reminders and Recommendations for Retirement Plan Fiduciaries

April 14, 2025

By Jeff Robertson and Iris Tilley

In these chaotic markets, it is important to revisit your 401(k) fiduciary process to ensure you and your employees are making prudent decisions within the rules of ERISA. When markets are high, participants tend to overlook structural plan issues in favor of increasing balances. However, when markets are down, participants, especially near-retirees, try to find opportunities to recoup market losses from faults in your retirement plan. 

With that in mind, here are five ways to protect yourself and your plan:

1.    Clarify Identities of the 401(k) Plan Fiduciaries

When we review documents listing the plan fiduciaries, we often find that they do not align with the actual current decision makers at a company. This happens due to turnover, promotions, and failure to regularly review and update documents. Where no active delegation has been made, a company’s Board of Directors will be the responsible entity. If the Board of Directors does not regularly review the 401(k) plan, it should be very clear within plan records that it has delegated that authority to the proper individuals at the company.

2.    Take Prudent Action in Relation to Your 401(k) Plan

A 401(k) plan is intended to be a long-term savings vehicle toward retirement. While employees retire at different times, the fiduciary duty remains the same—to act with a prudent process to the plan overall. This is a good time to evaluate the investment opportunities offered in the plan: Are there too many? Are the options diversified? How does the plan account for management fees in the investments? Do the fiduciaries follow an investment policy statement? 

3.    Take Care Not to Provide “Investment Advice” to Employees

A company’s officers, who are fiduciaries of the plan, are not the plan’s investment advisors. Nevertheless, we often encounter employees who by interest or job focus are (or believe they are) skilled in market trading and economic concepts and provide advice to other employees. ERISA rules prevent employee-fiduciaries from providing advice to participants. Utilize the plan’s independent investment advisors and their services to provide information and education to participants.

4.    Understand What a Company Offers as Investments and Why

A lot of companies set up an investment menu when a plan is established, and while they might perform a periodic review, do not change core investments. However, a regular review is important, especially in times of market downturn, to limit potential liability. One way to start this review is to ask your investment advisors whether they would change any funds if they were setting up the plan from scratch. This question includes the review of proprietary funds to the administrative platform that may have been prudent choices on adoption, but can potentially be more costly in your current investment lineup. 

5.    Document

If you do not regularly meet as a committee or do not document minutes of when you meet, now is the ideal time to document decisions. Many ERISA cases are determined by language included (or often not included) in the Summary Plan Description or Plan Committee Minutes. 

We are here to help. Please contact Jeff Robertson at jrobertson@barran.com or 503-276-2140, Iris Tilley at itilley@barran.com or 503-276-2155, or your regular Barran Liebman attorney for assistance in reviewing your 401(k) plan.