Oregon pay transparency law: no range in postings, but strict pay equity and history rules (2026)

Oregon has no law that requires employers to put a pay range in job postings, as of October 2026. The bill that would have, House Bill 2746, cleared its policy committee in April 2025 and then sat in the Joint Committee on Ways and Means until the session adjourned, and the 2026 short session took up no replacement. That does not make Oregon a light-touch state on pay. Its pay equity law, ORS 652.220, reaches eleven protected classes and every employer with one or more employees, and it bars screening applicants on past pay and setting pay from it. Add a ban on seeking salary history, protection for employees who discuss wages, and, since January 1, 2026, a duty to explain the pay statement to every new hire.

Does Oregon require a salary range in job postings?

No. No Oregon statute tells an employer what a job advertisement must say about pay, and there is no on-request or after-interview disclosure rule either. A recruiter can post an Oregon role without a range. In practice, though, the screen is where Oregon's other pay rules start to bite, because the recruiter cannot fall back on asking what the candidate earns now. For the states that do require ranges, see pay transparency laws by state; for Oregon's other hiring rules, including criminal history timing in Oregon's ban-the-box law, see the guide to hiring employees in Oregon.

What happened to House Bill 2746?

HB 2746, with Representative Nelson and Senator Jama as chief sponsors, would have required "employers and employment agencies to include certain wage and benefit information in job postings for job, promotion and transfer opportunities." The measure summary on OLIS describes the rest: employers would have kept employment records for each employee, violations would have been an unlawful practice with civil penalties assessed by the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries, the Commissioner could have issued "a letter of explanation or education" instead of a penalty for a first violation, and retaliation would have been barred. It would also have made employment agencies expressly subject to Oregon's bans on salary history and conviction inquiries.

Searching the measure summaries for the 2026 short session (OLIS, 2026R1) for wages, salary and postings turned up no pay range bill; the wage measures that moved dealt with companionship services, workers' compensation formulas and agency funding. Any new attempt would come in the 2027 long session.

What Oregon pay rules apply to hiring?

Pay equity: ORS 652.220

ORS 652.220(1) makes it an unlawful employment practice to discriminate "on the basis of a protected class in the payment of wages or other compensation for work of comparable character," to "screen job applicants based on current or past compensation," or to "determine compensation for a position based on current or past compensation of a prospective employee." The protected classes in ORS 652.210 are race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, marital status, veteran status, disability and age. "Compensation" includes wages, salary, bonuses, benefits, fringe benefits and equity-based pay, and "employer" means anyone with one or more employees, public employers included.

Pay may differ for comparable work only if "all of the difference" rests on a bona fide factor related to the position: a seniority system, a merit system, a production-based system, workplace locations, necessary and regular travel, education, training, experience, or a combination that accounts for the entire gap. The workplace locations factor is what lets an Oregon employer run geographic pay zones, provided the zones explain the whole difference.

ORS 652.235 gives employers a reason to audit before they post. In a pay equity suit, a court must disallow compensatory and punitive damages if the employer completed a good-faith "equal-pay analysis" within three years before the suit that was reasonable in detail and scope for its size, and has made "reasonable and substantial progress" toward eliminating unlawful gaps. Back pay is still owed. See pay equity audit before posting ranges.

Salary history: ORS 659A.357

It is an unlawful practice "to seek the salary history of an applicant or employee" from the applicant or from a current or former employer. After an offer that includes an amount of compensation, the employer may ask for written authorization to confirm prior pay. The Oregon salary history ban guide covers the details, penalties and a screening script.

Wage discussions: ORS 659A.355

An employer may not discharge, demote, suspend or retaliate against an employee who has "inquired about, discussed or disclosed in any manner the wages of the employee or of another employee." The one exception is an employee whose job gives access to other employees' wages and who discloses them to people not authorized to see them, unless the disclosure is part of a complaint or investigation. Federal law adds the same protection for most private-sector employees: the NLRB lists talking with coworkers about wages as protected concerted activity.

At hire: SB 906 pay statement explanation

BOLI's legislative updates say that under SB 906, effective January 1, 2026, "employers must notify all new hires of information about earnings and deductions," including the regular pay period, every type of pay rate the employee may be eligible for, and benefit contributions and deductions. It may be given on paper, posted, or linked electronically, and "must be reviewed and updated by January 1 of each year." It is not a posting rule, but it is the first written pay disclosure Oregon requires. See new hiring laws in Oregon for 2027.

Which federal rules apply?

The federal Equal Pay Act requires equal pay for "substantially equal" work and covers virtually all employers, and Title VII and the ADA bar pay discrimination at 15 or more employees, according to the EEOC's equal pay page. Oregon's comparable-character standard and longer list of protected classes go further. For federal contractors, the OFCCP pay transparency provision at 41 CFR 60-1.35 is not in force: Executive Order 14173 revoked its basis, Executive Order 11246, on January 21, 2025, and the Department of Labor's final rule rescinded the order's regulations, including 60-1.35, effective October 26, 2026 (91 FR 54444).

When do Washington or Nevada rules reach an Oregon job?

Washington. RCW 49.58.110 requires the wage scale or salary range, or a fixed wage when only one amount is offered, and "a general description of all of the benefits and other compensation" in each posting. A posting includes "recruitment done directly by an employer or indirectly through a third party." For postings from July 27, 2025 through July 27, 2027, an employer that corrects a posting within five business days of written notice gets a chance to cure before an applicant can seek remedies. A Portland employer that also fills Vancouver, Washington roles needs the range there; see the Washington guide.

Nevada. NRS 613.133 requires an employer or employment agency to give the wage or salary range or rate to an applicant "who has completed an interview for the position." A role in Nevada needs the range ready by the end of the first interview; see the Nevada guide. California's posting rule is covered in the California guide.

What should recruiters and staffing agencies hiring in Oregon do?

1. Get the range before the screen. With no salary history to anchor on, the employer's range is the only lawful starting point for the pay conversation.
2. Remove past-pay fields and filters. ORS 652.220(1)(c) bars screening applicants on current or past compensation, which includes knockout questions such as "current salary at least $X."
3. Set offers from the role, not the person's history. Record which bona fide factor explains where the offer sits in the range.
4. Agencies: act as the employer must. HB 2746's attempt to name agencies did not pass, but an agency that asks a candidate's pay history for an Oregon client hands that client the information the client may not seek or use. For licensing, see staffing agency license in Oregon.
5. Add the SB 906 explanation to every new hire packet, including for temporary workers an agency employs.

Example only: an offer note reads "Range $72,000 to $86,000; offer $79,000 based on six years of relevant experience (experience factor, ORS 652.220(2)(a)(H)); approved by hiring manager." That is the record ORS 652.220 rewards.

Oregon pay rules at a glance

An Oregon hiring checklist

OREGON PAY CHECKLIST (as of October 2026)

[ ] Range agreed with the hiring manager before the first screen
[ ] Posting: range optional in Oregon; required for Washington roles
[ ] No "current salary" field, filter or knockout question
[ ] No salary history questions to the candidate or past employers
[ ] Offer set from the role; bona fide factor written down
[ ] Pay zones, if any, based on workplace location and documented
[ ] No discipline or policy against discussing wages
[ ] SB 906 pay statement explanation in the new hire packet
[ ] Equal-pay analysis done within the last three years