HB 4013
Plain-language analysis
Generated analysis, not an official summary or legal advice. Confirm with linked Oregon documents.
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HB 4013 amends ORS 653.307 to lock Oregon’s rules on minor work hours to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) standards effective January 1, 2026, and restricts the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) from adopting less restrictive rules or more restrictive rules except to conform to future federal or state changes that increase protections. This eliminates a prior statutory exception allowing Oregon law to diverge from federal baselines and standardizes regulatory alignment without creating new government costs.
Basis: Bill text · Sources: Introduced; Staff Measure Summary; Staff Measure Summary
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 aims to prevent regulatory drift by anchoring state minor work hour limits to a fixed federal baseline, ensuring Oregon does not inadvertently weaken protections if federal standards change or if BOLI attempts to adopt less restrictive rules.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Introduced; Staff Measure Summary
Must comply with BOLI rules that are now strictly tied to the FLSA baseline; loses any prior state-specific flexibility that might have allowed different hour limits.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Introduced
Rulemaking authority is constrained; can only adopt more restrictive rules to conform to federal/state changes that increase protections, removing discretionary latitude to set independent standards.
Basis: Bill text · Sources: Introduced; Staff Measure Summary
Protections remain aligned with current FLSA limits but future state-level adjustments to hours or schedules will require new legislation rather than administrative rulemaking.
Basis: Bill text · Sources: Staff Measure Summary; Staff Measure Summary
Retain existing obligation to cooperate with BOLI and provide minor age/schooling information upon request.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Introduced
Employers and BOLI must track FLSA updates; any state rule changes will be mechanically tied to federal or new state statutory changes rather than independent policy shifts.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Introduced
No fiscal impact on state or local governments; no change to certificate application requirements or employer eligibility.
Basis: Official analysis · Sources: Fiscal Impact Statement INTRO; Revenue Impact Statement INTRO
BOLI retains revocation authority for noncompliance, but the narrowed rulemaking scope may limit its ability to address emerging local safety concerns without legislative action.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Introduced
Minors and youth advocates
If Congress tightens federal minor work hour standards, Oregon automatically adopts stricter protections immediately upon BOLI rulemaking, preventing regulatory lag and ensuring uniform youth workplace safety.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Introduced; Staff Measure Summary
State policymakers and local employers
If a future governor or legislature seeks to adjust work hours for local economic conditions (e.g., extending evening hours during summer), BOLI cannot act administratively; the lock requires new legislation, potentially stalling responsive policy updates.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Introduced; Staff Measure Summary
The text legally permits BOLI to adopt more restrictive rules only when conforming to changes that increase protections. Weak enforcement or expansive interpretation of 'increase protections' could allow BOLI to unilaterally impose stricter limits under the guise of conformity, while employers could misclassify the statutory lock as a permanent freeze on state authority to resist legitimate administrative updates.
Sources · Introduced
Anchoring Oregon’s minor work hour standards to federal baselines ensures regulatory consistency and prevents accidental weakening of protections, but sacrifices state flexibility to independently adjust youth employment rules based on local developmental or economic conditions. Upsides include reduced regulatory drift and automatic alignment with federal safety updates; downsides include constrained administrative responsiveness and potential delays in addressing region-specific youth workforce needs.
Reduces regulatory drift by locking state rules to a fixed federal baseline.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Introduced
Ensures automatic alignment with federal safety updates without legislative delay.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Staff Measure Summary
Constrains administrative responsiveness to local economic or developmental needs.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Introduced
Requires new legislation for any state-level adjustments, potentially stalling policy updates.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Staff Measure Summary
high confidence. Analysis is grounded exclusively in the introduced bill text and official legislative fiscal/revenue statements. No speculation beyond bounded statutory inference.
Possible effects if adopted; not current bill text.
The proposed amendment would prohibit Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries from adopting or enforcing any state rules limiting the total hours a minor can work if the minor is employed in agriculture or in a family-owned or family-operated business. If adopted, minors in these sectors could legally work unlimited hours under state law, shifting regulatory oversight primarily to federal standards and employer discretion.
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’s specific exclusion of BOLI authority over agricultural work and family-owned/operated businesses, paired with a detailed custody-based definition of “family-operated,” suggests a hypothesis that the measure aims to align Oregon’s minor work-hour rules with traditional exemptions for these sectors, reducing state regulatory oversight where employment is closely tied to family or agricultural operations.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Exempt from state-mandated work-hour limits; BOLI cannot set or enforce hour restrictions for them.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Same exemption applies, with the scope defined by ownership or operation by parents, stepparents, adoptive/foster parents, legal guardians, or other relatives under custody/care.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
No longer subject to Oregon’s minimum hour restrictions for minor workers, though they remain responsible for compliance with applicable federal law and general employment obligations.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Loses rulemaking and enforcement authority over minor work hours specifically for the two exempted categories, narrowing its oversight scope under ORS 653.307.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment; Introduced
Employers in the exempted sectors could schedule minors without state hour caps, increasing scheduling flexibility during peak seasons or family operations. BOLI would be unable to investigate or penalize hour violations for these groups under state law, leaving oversight to federal FLSA standards and local school district policies. The Legislative Fiscal Office and Legislative Revenue Office report no direct fiscal or revenue impact on state or local government, but the removal of state hour limits introduces potential risks regarding minor welfare, educational disruption, and workplace safety that are not addressed by the text.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment; Fiscal Impact Statement INTRO; Revenue Impact Statement INTRO; Introduced
Multi-generational family farms
A family farm avoids costly state compliance audits and can rely on teen labor during critical harvest windows without hour restrictions, preserving operational viability and family employment traditions.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Minors in misclassified family-operated retail businesses
A minor works 70+ hours weekly throughout the school year with no state hour limits, resulting in academic failure or exhaustion-related injuries, while BOLI lacks statutory authority to intervene under Oregon law.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
The text legally permits unlimited state-hour restrictions for these sectors. A significant abuse risk arises from weak enforcement or misclassification: employers could restructure commercial operations as “family-operated” to bypass hour restrictions, potentially exploiting minor workers under the guise of family employment. Federal FLSA may still apply, but its own exemptions and enforcement mechanisms differ, and the amendment does not address verification standards or audit procedures for the family-business definition.
Sources · Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
The measure trades uniform state safeguards against minor overwork for reduced regulatory compliance burdens on agricultural and family enterprises, increasing operational flexibility while diminishing BOLI’s ability to prevent potential exploitation or educational disruption. Upsides include administrative simplicity and support for family-run businesses; downsides include loss of standardized hour protections, heightened misclassification risk, and reliance on potentially less protective federal standards.
Administrative simplicity and reduced compliance costs for small farms and family enterprises.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Loss of standardized hour protections, heightened misclassification risk, and reliance on potentially less protective federal standards.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
medium confidence. The amendment text is explicit about its carve-outs, but lacks supporting testimony, fiscal data beyond the no-impact notice, or clarifying rules. Impacts depend heavily on how “family-operated” is interpreted and enforced in practice.
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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
Follow the official text for HB 4013 and every amendment branch. Connections come from each amendment's stated base. Horizontal position shows when each document was first posted, when available.
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Selected document summary
Targeted changes
Official records (1)
Oregon records no individual sponsors.
Presession filing record
Introduced and printed pursuant to House Rule 12.00. Presession filed.
LC 145 draft
Date printed on LC draft: January 12, 2026
LC 145 became HB 4013
Mapping document posted: January 12, 2026 at 4:11 AM PST
LC0145_DRAFT_2026_Regular_Session
House Interim Committee on Labor and Workforce Development introduction work session
Committee meeting: January 13, 2026 at 2:30 PM PST
HR 30
Committee introduction motion
Committee meeting: January 13, 2026 at 2:30 PM PST
A motion was made to adopt the listed legislative concepts as committee bills.
Official vote: 8-0-0
Committee introduction allows consideration; it does not imply every member supported the introduced or final text.
House carrier
Representative Dacia Grayber
Third Reading Of House Bills
Senate carrier
Senator Kathleen Taylor
Third Reading Of House Measures
A carrier presents the measure or report but is not necessarily its sponsor or author.
Records already listed in Activity are not repeated here.
The artifact has broad business or technology relevance, but it does not identify a concrete effect on Yex Labs LLC.
74% confidence · deterministic fallback
34 events
Full timeline
34 entries shown.
Chapter 7, (2026 Laws): Effective date January 1, 2027.
Governor signed.
President signed.
Speaker signed.
Third reading. Carried by Taylor. Passed.
Ayes, 18; Nays, 11--Anderson, Drazan, Girod, Hayden, Linthicum, McLane, Nash, Robinson, Starr, Thatcher, Weber; Excused, 1--Smith DB.
Carried over to 02-25 by unanimous consent.
Carried over to 02-24 by unanimous consent.
Second reading.
Recommendation: Do pass.
Work Session held.
Work Session
Heard and Reported Out · Agenda item 2 · Room HR E · Clarifies which federal rules apply to the scope of the rulemaking authority of the Bureau of Labor and Industries regarding rules that govern the hours a minor can work.
Amendment -1 proposed
IS_Impact HB 4013 INTRO
Revenue Impact Statement
Public Hearing held.
Public Hearing
Heard · Agenda item 2 · Room HR E · Clarifies which federal rules apply to the scope of the rulemaking authority of the Bureau of Labor and Industries regarding rules that govern the hours a minor can work.
IS_Impact HB 4013 INTRO
Revenue Impact Statement
Referred to Labor and Business.
First reading. Referred to President's desk.
Third reading. Carried by Grayber. Passed.
Ayes, 36; Nays, 22--Boice, Boshart Davis, Breese-Iverson, Bunch, Cate, Diehl, Edwards, Elmer, Harbick, Helfrich, Levy B, Lewis, McIntire, Osborne, Owens, Reschke, Scharf, Skarlatos, Smith G, Wallan, Wright, Yunker; Excused, 1--Valderrama; Excused for Business of the House, 1--Speaker Fahey.
Second reading.
Recommendation: Do pass.
Work Session held.
Work Session
Heard and Reported Out · Agenda item 5 · Room HR 60 · Clarifies which federal rules apply to the scope of the rulemaking authority of the Bureau of Labor and Industries regarding rules that govern the hours a minor can work.
IS_Impact HB 4013 INTRO
Revenue Impact Statement
Public Hearing scheduled.
Public Hearing
Agenda item 4 · Room HR 60 · Clarifies which federal rules apply to the scope of the rulemaking authority of the Bureau of Labor and Industries regarding rules that govern the hours a minor can work.
Referred to Labor and Workforce Development.
First reading. Referred to Speaker's desk.
“Clarifies which federal rules apply to the scope of the rulemaking authority of the Bureau of Labor and Industries regarding rules that govern the hours a minor can work.”
Confirm with the official record.
Supplemental, source-linked analysis from project researchers and community contributors. It is separate from Oregon's official record.