Oregon Governor Tina Kotek recently signed into law a bill that will extend civil rights, discrimination, and harassment workplace protections to participants in registered apprenticeship programs and certain private-sector on-the-job training programs.1 The law takes effect January 1, 2024.
As set forth in ORS Chapter 659A, Oregon law already provides civil rights, discrimination, and harassment workplace protections to employees and interns. Federal law prohibits discrimination based on certain protected classes in registered apprenticeships, but Oregon had no clear parallel state protection.2
The new law will apply to participants in registered apprenticeship programs or private-sector on-the-job training programs that provide job-specific skills training necessary for obtaining employment in a skilled trade. The protections will apply where the “employer” employs the services of an apprentice or “reserves the right to control” the “means by which the services are or will be performed” and sponsors or agrees to provide training under an on-the-job training program. With respect to on-the-job training programs, the protections will apply if the program: 1) is for a limited duration of time as agreed upon by the participant and the employer; 2) the employer provides paid work experience to the participant at an agreed-upon rate; 3) the program does not require the employer to commit to hiring the participant; and 4) the program does not require or permit the parties to...
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