SB 1518
Plain-language analysis
Generated analysis, not an official summary or legal advice. Confirm with linked Oregon documents.
The enrolled bill codifies Oregon minimum wage and overtime protections for domestic workers in private homes while explicitly excluding individuals providing "companionship services" under a frozen 2016 federal definition, unless employed by a third-party agency. It mandates overtime pay, rest periods, paid leave, and prohibits passport confiscation and harassment, shifting compliance obligations to private households and care agencies.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Enrolled
Official sources do not state why this measure was proposed.
Sponsor testimony, staff summaries, committee materials, or statutory findings may explain it.
Inferred from cited text; not a stated purpose.
The legislature likely intends to preempt potential federal deregulation that would expand the companionship exemption, while preserving direct-hire flexibility for families.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Enrolled; Staff Measure Summary A
Gain statutory entitlements to overtime pay, mandatory rest days, paid personal leave, and explicit anti-harassment protections.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Enrolled
Remain exempt from minimum wage and overtime requirements if their duties align with the frozen federal definition.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Enrolled
Cannot apply the companionship exemption to their employees; must comply with full domestic worker wage, hour, and leave mandates.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Enrolled
Face new payroll tracking obligations, scheduling constraints, and potential cost increases for live-in or full-time help.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Enrolled
Gains statutory authority to adopt rules calculating overtime during travel and medical emergencies.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Enrolled
Employers must implement precise hour-tracking systems, pay 1.5x overtime after 40 hours (or 44 for live-in workers), guarantee 24 consecutive rest hours weekly, provide adequate sleeping quarters, and grant three paid leave days if the worker averaged 30+ hours weekly in the prior year.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Enrolled
Compliance costs will rise for households, potentially altering hiring practices or reducing hours. Enforcement depends on BOLI complaint processing; misclassification between "companionship" and "domestic service" poses a significant administrative risk.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Enrolled
Direct-hire caregiver
A direct-hire caregiver working 70 hours weekly suddenly receives substantial overtime compensation and three paid days off, stabilizing their income and preventing exploitation in an unregulated sector.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Enrolled
Private household employer
A family hiring a live-in companion for a disabled relative faces unexpected payroll liabilities because the worker's light medical tasks push them past the companionship threshold, forcing the family to terminate employment or drastically reduce care hours due to cost.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Enrolled
The statutory carve-out relies on subjective duty assessments rather than objective metrics, creating enforcement gaps where employers may reclassify compensated care work as exempt companionship to avoid payroll obligations.
Sources · Enrolled; Staff Measure Summary A
Expands wage and labor protections for direct-hire domestic workers at the cost of increased compliance burdens and payroll expenses for private households, while preserving an exemption for traditional companionship roles to avoid disrupting informal care networks.
Reduces financial precarity and burnout among direct-hire caregivers through guaranteed overtime, rest periods, and paid leave.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Enrolled
Establishes clear anti-harassment and passport-confiscation prohibitions, addressing documented vulnerabilities in private-home employment.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Enrolled
Increases payroll and administrative costs for private households, potentially reducing demand for full-time domestic help or pushing informal arrangements underground.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Enrolled
Creates ambiguity around the frozen 2016 federal definition, increasing litigation or audit risk when workers perform hybrid companionship and domestic service duties.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Enrolled
The enrolled version is textually identical to the Senate Amendments version regarding the core provisions. Both versions amend ORS 653.020 to list employee exemptions and amend ORS 653.547 to define domestic workers, mandate overtime/rest/leave requirements, prohibit passport confiscation and harassment, and grant BOLI rulemaking authority for travel/emergency overtime calculations. No substantive changes were introduced between the two provided versions.
No substantive change identified.
Tradeoff: Expands wage and labor protections for direct-hire domestic workers at the cost of increased compliance burdens and payroll expenses for private households, while preserving an exemption for traditional companionship roles to avoid disrupting informal care networks.
high confidence. The enrolled bill text is explicit regarding exemptions, mandates, and definitions. Official fiscal and staff summaries confirm the mechanism and note minimal revenue impact. The primary uncertainty lies in future BOLI rulemaking and real-world enforcement dynamics.
Possible effects if adopted; not current bill text.
If adopted, the amendment would statutorily mandate overtime pay, guaranteed rest periods, paid personal leave, and anti-harassment protections for domestic workers in Oregon, while clarifying that the minimum wage and overtime exemption for companionship services applies only under a specific historical federal regulatory definition and explicitly excludes workers employed by third-party home care agencies. Material consequences include increased payroll compliance costs for employers of live-in or regular domestic staff, expanded BOLI enforcement authority, and a narrowed scope of exempt companionship roles.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Official sources do not state why this measure was proposed.
Sponsor testimony, staff summaries, committee materials, or statutory findings may explain it.
Inferred from cited text; not a stated purpose.
The amendment likely aims to align Oregon’s domestic worker exemption with a specific historical federal standard while preventing home care agencies from claiming the exemption for workers they directly employ.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment; Staff Measure Summary A
Gain statutory overtime, rest, leave, and anti-harassment protections unless they meet the narrow exemption criteria.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Explicitly excluded from the exemption; must comply with new wage, hour, and leave requirements for qualifying employees.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Face new obligations to provide adequate sleep space, permit food autonomy, guarantee 24-hour weekly rest, and track overtime thresholds (40 vs. 44 hours).
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Gains rulemaking authority to calculate overtime during travel/medical emergencies and assumes enforcement responsibility for the new provisions.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Employers must implement payroll tracking for overtime thresholds, accrue paid leave, and adjust living arrangements for live-in staff.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Workers gain enforceable rest periods and anti-retaliation safeguards, shifting risk from wage theft to employer compliance.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Enforcement relies on BOLI investigations; misclassification between exempt companionship roles and covered domestic service could trigger compliance disputes.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
The jurisdiction remains Oregon law, though it incorporates a federal regulatory definition by reference.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Live-in caregiver for an elderly client
Works 65 hours weekly, receives overtime pay at 1.5x rate, is guaranteed 24 consecutive hours of rest plus 8 hours in each 24-hour period, receives three paid leave days annually, and has legally protected autonomy to cook their own meals without employer interference.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Family hiring a part-time housekeeper for 35 hours weekly
Faces unexpected payroll complexity and costs to track overtime, accrue leave, and document rest periods, potentially leading them to reduce hours below the threshold or shift to informal cash arrangements to avoid compliance burdens.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
The exemption hinges on the 2016 federal regulatory definition and third-party employment status; blurred role boundaries create enforcement gaps where duty creep masks domestic service as companionship.
Sources · Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Expanding statutory labor protections for domestic workers increases employer compliance costs and administrative burden while reducing the risk of wage theft and exploitation in a historically unregulated sector. Upsides include guaranteed rest, anti-harassment safeguards, and clearer exemption boundaries; downsides include payroll complexity, potential cost pass-throughs to families, and enforcement challenges around role classification.
Guaranteed rest periods and paid leave reduce caregiver burnout and improve service continuity for vulnerable clients.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Explicit anti-harassment and anti-retaliation provisions create enforceable workplace standards for isolated domestic workers.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Small employers face payroll tracking and leave accrual costs that may exceed the value of part-time domestic services.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Ambiguity in third-party employment definitions may create compliance uncertainty for contracted staffing arrangements.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
high confidence. Analysis is grounded exclusively in the provided proposed amendment text and official committee/fiscal summaries. No external speculation or unverified claims are included.
The amendment replaces a legislative study mandate with substantive labor standards for domestic workers, explicitly defining the companionship services exemption by reference to federal regulations and carving out third-party home care employees. It imposes mandatory overtime pay, rest periods, paid leave, food preparation rights, and anti-harassment/anti-retaliation protections on private household employers, while granting BOLI rulemaking authority for travel and emergency overtime calculations. Material consequence: thousands of direct-hire home care workers gain enforceable state wage and condition protections, private households face new compliance obligations, and regulatory oversight shifts from a study to active enforcement.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment; Staff Measure Summary A; Staff Measure Summary A
Official sources do not state why this measure was proposed.
Sponsor testimony, staff summaries, committee materials, or statutory findings may explain it.
Inferred from cited text; not a stated purpose.
The measure appears designed to align Oregon’s companionship services exemption with the 2013 federal rule that distinguished between direct hires and agency-employed workers, thereby closing a coverage gap for third-party home care employees while preserving the exemption for private family arrangements.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment; Staff Measure Summary A
Gain statutory entitlements to overtime pay, guaranteed rest periods, paid personal leave, food preparation autonomy, and explicit anti-harassment and anti-retaliation protections previously unavailable under the broad exemption.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Explicitly removed from the companionship exemption; must now receive standard minimum wage and overtime under Oregon law, aligning state coverage with existing federal requirements but removing ambiguity.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Assume new compliance obligations including hourly tracking, overtime calculation, scheduling 24-hour rest periods, providing three paid leave days (if averaging ≥30 hours/week), and maintaining a harassment-free workplace. Cannot retain worker passports under any circumstances.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Gains direct enforcement jurisdiction over private home employers and rulemaking authority to standardize overtime calculations during travel and medical emergencies.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Employers must implement precise timekeeping and payroll systems to track overtime thresholds (40 hours/week, or 44 for live-in workers) and calculate three paid leave days based on prior-year averages. Enforcement will rely almost entirely on worker complaints due to the private nature of domestic work, increasing risk of wage theft if tracking is inadequate.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
The statutory ban on requesting passport possession eliminates a common coercive practice, but compliance depends on worker awareness and willingness to report violations in isolated settings.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
BOLI will need to develop administrative rules for travel and emergency overtime calculations, creating a short-term regulatory development burden before enforcement standards are clear.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Live-in caregiver for an elderly family member
Works 65 hours per week continuously. Under the amendment, receives overtime pay for 25 hours at 1.5x base rate, is guaranteed eight consecutive hours of uninterrupted sleep each day with adequate sleeping conditions, and accrues three paid personal leave days annually due to averaging over 30 hours weekly. This prevents exhaustion-related injury and provides financial stability.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Family hiring part-time housekeeping assistance
Hires a worker for 15 hours weekly. The family lacks payroll infrastructure, finds the mandatory rest-day scheduling and leave-accrual tracking overly complex, and terminates the arrangement to avoid compliance risk. The worker loses income, and the family shifts to informal cash payments, eliminating all legal recourse and protections.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
The text legally permits direct-hire companionship service exemptions. Misclassifying agency-employed workers as direct hires to claim this exemption would unlawfully deny them overtime and leave protections, exploiting the private-home setting to evade BOLI oversight.
Sources · Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Expanding baseline labor protections to vulnerable home care workers increases household compliance costs and may reduce informal employment flexibility, but it establishes clear standards for compensation, rest, and anti-harassment safeguards.
Predictable overtime compensation and mandatory rest periods reduce caregiver burnout and improve health outcomes.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Explicit anti-harassment, anti-retaliation, and passport-retention bans provide direct legal recourse against exploitation.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Private households face administrative and financial burdens for tracking hours, calculating leave, and scheduling rest periods.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Complex compliance requirements may deter some families from hiring formal assistance, potentially shrinking the legal workforce and increasing reliance on unregulated arrangements.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
high confidence. The amendment text is explicit in its statutory changes, definitions, and obligations. Fiscal impacts are officially documented as minimal/no revenue impact. Inferences regarding compliance burden and enforcement reliance are grounded in the private nature of domestic work and standard labor law implementation patterns.
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Records available in the current snapshot.
Earliest loaded signal
Introduced bill text posted
Posted Jan 28, 2026, 3:25 PM PST
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Selected document summary
Substantial replacement
What the document says to change
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Oregon records no individual sponsors.
Presession filing record
Printed pursuant to Senate Interim Rule 213.28 by order of the President of the Senate in conformance with presession filing rules, indicating neither advocacy nor opposition on the part of the President.
LC 155 draft
Date printed on LC draft: December 2, 2025
LC 155 became SB 1518
Mapping document posted: January 9, 2026 at 2:35 AM PST
LC0155_DRAFT_2026_Regular_Session
Senate Interim Committee on Labor and Business introduction work session
Committee meeting: January 13, 2026 at 11:30 AM PST
HR B
Committee introduction motion
Committee meeting: January 13, 2026 at 11:30 AM PST
A motion was made to adopt the listed legislative concepts as committee bills.
Official vote: 5-0-0
Committee introduction allows consideration; it does not imply every member supported the introduced or final text.
The text changed substantially while keeping measure number SB 1518.
Senate carrier
Senator Kathleen Taylor
Third Reading Of Senate Measures · Version A
House carrier
Representative Sue Rieke Smith
Third Reading Of Senate Bills · Version A
A carrier presents the measure or report but is not necessarily its sponsor or author.
Records already listed in Activity are not repeated here.
Yex Labs LLC should monitor this measure because the supplied artifact supports workforce development and AI skills training and a credible operational, financial, or compliance effect.
78% confidence · deterministic fallback
32 events
Full timeline
32 entries shown.
Effective date, January 1, 2027.
Chapter 2, 2026 Laws.
Governor signed.
Speaker signed.
President signed.
Third reading. Carried by Rieke Smith. Passed.
Ayes, 34; Nays, 6--Cate, Edwards, Elmer, Harbick, McIntire, Reschke; Excused, 18--Boice, Boshart Davis, Breese-Iverson, Diehl, Hartman, Helfrich, Levy B, Lewis, Lively, Nelson, Osborne, Skarlatos, Tran, Valderrama, Wallan, Watanabe, Wright, Yunker; Excused for Business of the House, 2--Bowman, Speaker Fahey.
Second reading.
Recommendation: Do pass.
Public Hearing and Work Session held.
Public Hearing and Work Session
Heard and Reported Out · Agenda item 1 · Room HR 60 · Clarifies the meaning of "companionship services" for purposes of minimum wage and overtime requirements for certain individuals performing such services.
Referred to Labor and Workforce Development.
First reading. Referred to Speaker's desk.
Third reading. Carried by Taylor. Passed.
Ayes, 26; Nays, 3--Girod, Linthicum, Robinson; Excused, 1--Drazan.
Second reading.
Senate Amendments to Introduced bill text posted
Recommendation: Do pass with amendments. (Printed A-Eng.)
Public Hearing and Work Session held.
Public Hearing and Work Session
Heard and Reported Out · Agenda item 2 · Room HR E · Requires the Bureau of Labor and Industries to study issues relating to worker protections.
IS_Impact SB 1518 1
Revenue Impact Statement
Amendment -1 adopted
Informational Meeting held.
Informational Meeting
Heard · Agenda item 5 · Room HR E · Requires the Bureau of Labor and Industries to study issues relating to worker protections.
Amendment -1 proposed
Referred to Labor and Business.
Introduction and first reading. Referred to President's desk.
“Clarifies the meaning of "companionship services" for purposes of minimum wage and overtime requirements for certain individuals performing such services.”
Confirm with the official record.
Supplemental, source-linked analysis from project researchers and community contributors. It is separate from Oregon's official record.