Kathy Peck will be presenting an Anti-Harassment Workshop for the Association of Washington Cities Risk Management Service Agency (RMSA) on May 29th in Castle Rock, Washington.  The workshop participants will learn legal protections from harassment, prevention of workplace harassment, and how to respond to harassment. For more information and/or to…

Dee and Chandra will be co-presenting for the fifth year in a row on February 9th at the SDAO annual conference in Sunriver, Oregon.  The session will present an overview of recent legal trends regarding gender-related employment issues. Topics covered will be pregnancy accommodations, transgender protections, the Oregon Equal Pay…

Peck Rubanoff & Hatfield has again been rated Tier 1 by US News and World Report and Best Lawyers® for the Portland Metropolitan Area in Labor and Employment Law. Ranked firms are listed on a national and regional-based scale. Firms that receive a tier designation are highly respected among other leading lawyers…

The US Supreme Court recently ruled that employers are prohibited under the First Amendment from deducting “agency fees” (i.e. dues and other union-related fees) from employee paychecks without their affirmative consent.  In response to this ruling, we are recommending that public employers issue the following memo to all employees who are only making…

The Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries has issued Advisory Opinions concluding that sick leave incentive policies that deny a benefit to employees because they used some or all of the sick leave they are entitled to receive under the Oregon Sick Leave Law, while providing a benefit to those…

The Portland CPI Index will be discontinued at the end of calendar year 2017. If your agency or company has referenced the Portland Index in collective bargaining agreements to dictate wage increases for periods after the Index is no longer available, you must negotiate with your unions to reach agreement…

Since it’s founding in 2013, PRH has consistently been listed in the U.S. News – Best Lawyers ® Best Law Firms list.  2018 is no exception.  The list, release November 1st, reflects the high level of respect a firm has earned among other leading lawyers and clients in the same communities…

Kathy Peck was awarded the National Public Employer Labor Relations Association’s (NPELRA) 2017 Pacesetter Award at its April annual training conference in Long Beach, California. The Pacesetter award recognized Kathy’s professional achievements in the field of public sector labor relations.  Pacesetters are role models who serve as resources to others in…

Steven Schuback will be speaking at the Association of Washington Cities 2017 Labor Relations Institute in Yakima, Washington. This event is for public sector human resources and labor relations professionals. His May 4th session is entitled “Effective Application of Disciplinary Actions.” On May 5th, he will again take the stage…

The Oregon Public Employer Labor Relations Association presented it’s 2016 Award of Excellence to Kathy Peck at its annual conference in November.  Kathy’s selection was an acknowledgment of her long standing dedication and achievement in the development of positive labor-management relations.

For the third year in a row, Peck Rubanoff & Hatfield was ranked by U.S. News and World Report as a “Best Law Firm” for the Portland Metropolitan area in management labor and employment law.  The U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” rankings are based on a rigorous…

Congratulations to Kathy Peck for being named the Best Lawyers 2017 Portland Oregon Labor Law Management “Lawyer of the Year.” This prodigious honor is awarded to individual attorneys with the highest overall peer-feedback for a specific practice area and geographic location. Only one lawyer is recognized as the “Lawyer of the…

Paying compensation to employees who opt out of costly health insurance and other benefits can be an appealing option for both employers and employees. The employer saves on premium contribution costs, and the employee gets extra spending money. But employers should beware: a new case out of the 9th Circuit Court…

The US Department of Labor has announced a new salary basis rule. Under the new rule, employees must receive a salary of $47,476 per year ($913/week) in order to meet the threshold test for exemption from overtime. The new rule will take effect on December 1, 2016. This is a…

Attorney Steven Schuback will speak at the Chinook Institute’s 2nd annual public employer update conference in Keizer, Oregon on July 15th.  This labor relations conference includes topics such as recent Employment Relations Board cases, workplace policies on medical and recreational marijuana, and hiring practices, among others. The event goes from…

Attorneys Dian Rubanoff and Chandra Hatfield will speak at the Special Districts Association’s Annual Conference in Sunriver Oregon on February 5th.  The topic, “Wiring Your Hiring” will focus on veterans’ preference and other hiring issues.  To check out the full conference schedule, click here.