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Oregon Minimum Wage

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What is the minimum wage in Oregon for 2008?

On New Year’s Day, January 1, 2008, the minimum wage in Oregon went up to $7.95 an hour. Ranking second highest in 2007, Oregon has slipped to fourth place in 2007, behind California and Massachusetts, both at $8.00 an hour, and Washington State, the highest, at $8.07.

Labor Commissioner Dan Gardner, who announced the increase, said the 15-cent hike in 2008 and Oregon’s method of pegging increases to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) “makes sure these workers’ wages keep pace with the rising cost of living.”

But Commissioner Gardner said that nevertheless, Oregon’s minimum wage earners are still disadvantaged. Among the 25 lowest-paying industries, the average pay hike was only 1% during the past three years, according to figures from the Oregon

Center for Public Policy. The group is an organization that advocates on behalf of minimum wage earners. In the 25 highest-paying industries, by comparison, the average pay boost was 10% during the same three-year period.

Changes in the minimum wage and other labor law changes require employers to display updated posters in prominent locations. The posters can be had through www.laborlawcenter.com. More information on Oregon’s labor laws are available through the state’s Bureau of Labor and Industry (BOLI), which presents useful Technical Assistance seminars to enrollees. The seminars are valuable, according to the state of Oregon, “as an effective and proactive way to help keep your organization in compliance with state labor laws – and out of court.”

Labor Commissioner Gardner helped lead the effort in 2002 that passed Ballot Measure 25. He was instrumental in providing a measure that provides a cost of living increase for Oregon’s minimum wage workers. Other states followed, and now more than a dozen include cost-of-living hikes in their minimum wage laws.

Oregon calculates increases according to the CPI, rounding up the inflation rate to the nearest 5 cents. The change starts on the first day of every year.

Voters in Oregon historically have supported increases to the minimum wage. In 1996, they backed a measure hiking the rate by $1.50 in three 50-cent installments over more than 2 years. JH