Oregon Revised Statutes

Or. Rev. Stat. § 652.210 (2026)

Definitions for ORS 652.210 to 652.235

✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section ORSoregonlegislature.gov JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

      652.210 Definitions for ORS 652.210 to 652.235. As used in ORS 652.210 to 652.235, unless the context requires otherwise:

      (1)(a) “Compensation” includes wages, salary, bonuses, benefits, fringe benefits and equity-based compensation.

      (b) “Compensation” does not include vaccine incentives.

      (2) “Employee” means any individual who, otherwise than as a copartner of the employer, as an independent contractor or as a participant in a work training program administered under the state or federal assistance laws, renders personal services wholly or partly in this state to an employer who pays or agrees to pay such individual at a fixed rate. However, when services are rendered only partly in this state, an individual is not an employee unless the contract of employment of the employee has been entered into, or payments thereunder are ordinarily made or to be made, within this state.

      (3)(a) “Employer” means any person employing one or more employees, including the State of Oregon or any political subdivision thereof or any county, city, district, authority, public corporation or entity and any of their instrumentalities organized and existing under law or charter.

      (b) “Employer” does not include the federal government.

      (4) “Equal-pay analysis” means an evaluation process to assess and correct wage disparities among employees who perform work of comparable character.

      (5) “Gender identity” has the meaning given that term in ORS 174.100.

      (6) “Protected class” means a group of persons distinguished by race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, marital status, veteran status, disability or age.

      (7) “Public health emergency” means:

      (a) A public health emergency declared under ORS 433.441.

      (b) An emergency declared under ORS 401.165 if related to a public health emergency as defined in ORS 433.442.

      (8) “Rate” with reference to wages means:

      (a) The basis of compensation for services by an employee for an employer; and

      (b) Compensation based on the time spent in the performance of the services, on the number of operations accomplished or on the quantity produced or handled.

      (9) “Sexual orientation” has the meaning given that term in ORS 174.100.

      (10) “System” means a consistent and verifiable method in use at the time that a violation is alleged under ORS 652.220.

      (11) “Unpaid wages” means the difference between the wages actually paid to an employee and the wages required under ORS 652.220 to be paid to the employee.

      (12) “Vaccine incentives” means monetary or nonmonetary incentives, including but not limited to additional paid time off or protected time off from work provided by employers to employees who have been immunized against infectious diseases for which a public health emergency has been declared.

      (13) “Veteran status” means an individual is a veteran as defined in ORS 408.225.

      (14) “Wages” means all compensation for performance of service by an employee for an employer, whether paid by the employer or another person, or paid in cash or any medium other than cash.

      (15) “Working conditions” includes work environment, hours, time of day, physical surroundings and potential hazards encountered by an employee.

      (16) “Work of comparable character” means work that requires substantially similar knowledge, skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions in the performance of work, regardless of job description or job title. [1955 c.193 §1; 1985 c.100 §1; 1987 c.158 §124; 1993 c.739 §25; 2005 c.22 §457; 2017 c.197 §1; 2019 c.617 §1; 2021 c.363 §§2,3,4; 2021 c.367 §29; 2022 c.23 §§1,2]

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 24 cases (9 in the last 5 years), 1973–2025 · leading case: City of Portland v. Bureau of Labor & Indus., 690 P.2d 475 (Or. 1984).
City of Portland v. Bureau of Labor & Indus., 690 P.2d 475 (Or. 1984). · cites it 6× “Two separate statutory schemes are implicated, namely, the Equal Pay Act, ORS 652.210 to 652.230, and the Fair Employment Practices Act, ORS 659.”
City of Portland v. Bureau of Labor & Indus., 656 P.2d 353 (Or. Ct. App. 1982). · cites it 8× “The city's first assignment of error rests on a claimed conflict between two statutes, the so-called Equal Pay Act, ORS 652.210 to 652.230, and the Fair Employment Practices Act, ORS 659.”
Lamy v. Jack Jarvis & Co., Inc., 574 P.2d 1107 (Or. 1978). · cites it 5× “The trial court’s first conclusion of law stated: "Work performed by plaintiff on the dates of May 1 and 2, 1975, was not as an employee of defendant as that term is defined in ORS 652.210 (2), but as a co-partner performing in accordance with the Shareholders Agreement * * *.”
Jennifer Freyd v. Univ. of Oregon, 990 F.3d 1211 (9th Cir. 2021). “” Or. Rev. Stat. § 652.210 (13) (2019). Because of these changes to the law, the Oregon Supreme Court’s answers to Freyd’s first two certified questions would be relevant only in this case and other cases brought under the old version of the law.”
Wyatt v. Body Imaging, P.C., 989 P.2d 36 (Or. Ct. App. 1999). · cites it 4× “10 as compensation for the services that she provided for defendant. Not even defendant disputes that. Defendant argues that the amount nevertheless is not "wages," because plaintiff had no right to expect receipt of the sum after she agreed that it would be deducted to pay…”
Thompson v. Bolliger, Hampton & Tarlow, 849 P.2d 526 (Or. Ct. App. 1993). · cites it 5× “The definition of “employee” found at ORS 652.210, however, expressly applies only to ORS 652.”
Miller v. CC Meisel Co., Inc., 51 P.3d 650 (Or. Ct. App. 2002). · cites it 2× “” On appeal, defendant attempts to distinguish the case law interpreting broadly the term “wages” in ORS chapter 652 and argues that the amount of the compensation, the nature of the agreement, and the difficulties in calculating what was due under the agreement combined to put…”
Pope v. Jud. Dep't, 721 P.2d 462 (Or. Ct. App. 1986). · cites it 7× “405 (wage enforcement statutes), define “employer” explicitly to exclude the state.”
North Marion Sch. Dist. 15 Ex Rel. Trejo v. Acstar Ins., 169 P.3d 1224 (Or. 2007). · cites it 2× “For that reason, we refer to the current versions of the provisions of ORS chapter 652.”
Baltimore Harbor Charters, Ltd. v. Ayd, 780 A.2d 303 (Md. 2001). “1 (West 1991); Or.Rev. Stat. § 652.210 (1999); R.I. Gen.”
Duckworth v. Duckworth, 534 P.3d 1076 (Or. Ct. App. 2023). · cites it 2× “140, which provides that, “[w]hen an employer discharges an employee * * *, all wages earned and unpaid at the time of the discharge * * * become due and payable not later than the end of the first business day after the discharge * * *.” The Wage Claim Act does not define…”
Jancey v. Sch. Comm., 421 Mass. 482 (Mass. 1995). “See also Or. Rev. Stat. § 652.210 (3) (1988) (for purposes of comparable work statute wages defined as “all compensation for performance of service by an employee for an employer whether paid by the employer or another person, including cash value of all compensation paid in any…”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 652.210(1) — 2 cases
City of Portland v. Bureau of Labor & Indus., 656 P.2d 353 (Or. Ct. App. 1982). “The city's first assignment of error rests on a claimed conflict between two statutes, the so-called Equal Pay Act, ORS 652.210 to 652.230, and the Fair Employment Practices Act, ORS 659.”
City of Portland v. Bureau of Labor & Indus., 690 P.2d 475 (Or. 1984). “Two separate statutory schemes are implicated, namely, the Equal Pay Act, ORS 652.210 to 652.230, and the Fair Employment Practices Act, ORS 659.”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 652.210(14) — 3 cases
Athena v. Pelican Brewing Co., 345 Or. App. 172 (Or. Ct. App. 2025).
Wilson v. Safeway, Inc. (D. Or. 2025).
Athena v. Pelican Brewing Co., 345 Or. App. 172 (Or. Ct. App. 2025).
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 652.210(16) — 1 case
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 652.210(2) — 7 cases
North Marion Sch. Dist. 15 Ex Rel. Trejo v. Acstar Ins., 169 P.3d 1224 (Or. 2007). “For that reason, we refer to the current versions of the provisions of ORS chapter 652.”
Thompson v. Bolliger, Hampton & Tarlow, 849 P.2d 526 (Or. Ct. App. 1993). “The definition of “employee” found at ORS 652.210, however, expressly applies only to ORS 652.”
Duckworth v. Duckworth, 534 P.3d 1076 (Or. Ct. App. 2023). “140, which provides that, “[w]hen an employer discharges an employee * * *, all wages earned and unpaid at the time of the discharge * * * become due and payable not later than the end of the first business day after the discharge * * *.” The Wage Claim Act does not define…”
Lamy v. Jack Jarvis & Co., Inc., 574 P.2d 1107 (Or. 1978). “The trial court’s first conclusion of law stated: "Work performed by plaintiff on the dates of May 1 and 2, 1975, was not as an employee of defendant as that term is defined in ORS 652.210 (2), but as a co-partner performing in accordance with the Shareholders Agreement * * *.”
Wyss v. Inskeep, 699 P.2d 1161 (Or. Ct. App. 1985).
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 652.210(3) — 2 cases
Wyatt v. Body Imaging, P.C., 989 P.2d 36 (Or. Ct. App. 1999). “10 as compensation for the services that she provided for defendant. Not even defendant disputes that. Defendant argues that the amount nevertheless is not "wages," because plaintiff had no right to expect receipt of the sum after she agreed that it would be deducted to pay…”
Miller v. CC Meisel Co., Inc., 51 P.3d 650 (Or. Ct. App. 2002). “” On appeal, defendant attempts to distinguish the case law interpreting broadly the term “wages” in ORS chapter 652 and argues that the amount of the compensation, the nature of the agreement, and the difficulties in calculating what was due under the agreement combined to put…”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 652.210(5) — 1 case
Perri v. Certified Languages Int'l, LLC, 66 P.3d 531 (Or. Ct. App. 2003).
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.