Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 9, September 1, 2024
(1) ORS
659A.203(1)(a) and
(d) prohibit a public employer from
prohibiting, discouraging, restraining, dissuading, coercing or otherwise
interfering with any employee responding to an official legislative request to
discuss the activities of the state or any branch, agency or political
subdivision thereof, or from discussing the activities of any person authorized
to act on behalf of those entities.
(2) In order to be protected by ORS
659A.203(1)(a),
a public employee must be responding to an official legislative request,
whether orally or in writing. The request must be made by or at the direction
of a Legislative Assembly member and must invite discussion with a Legislative
Assembly member or legislative committee staff acting under the direction of a
Legislative Assembly member;
(a) No employee
may be required to inform the employer prior to engaging in the requested
legislative discussion except when the legislative request for information is
directed to the agency and the employee will speak or testify on behalf of the
agency;
(b) Regarding legislative
testimony or discussion with representatives of Legislative Assembly members,
the whistleblower law is not intended to:
(A)
Authorize an employee to represent the employee's personal opinions as the
opinions of the agency or subdivision;
(B) Authorize an employee to disclose
information required to be kept confidential under state or federal law, rule
or regulation, or allow disclosure of records exempt from disclosure except as
provided in ORS 192.501 to
192.505 or
659A.212;
(C) Prevent public employers from prohibiting
employee disclosure of information of an advisory nature to the extent that it
covers other than purely factual materials and is preliminary to any final
agency determination of policy or action.
(3) An employee is not entitled to leave work
without following the employer's applicable rules and policies pertaining to
leave, unless the employee is requested by a Legislative Assembly member or a
legislative committee to appear before a legislative committee. If the
employee's testimony is so requested, the employee may elect to take personal
time off in accordance with the employer's normal procedure.
(a) The employer may confirm the date and
time for testimony but may not inquire into the substance of the
testimony.
(b) The employer must
excuse the employee's absence from work during the time required for testimony
and travel to and from the location of the committee.
(c) If an employee appears to testify and
testimony is not taken at the designated date and time, the absence must be
treated in the same manner as if the testimony had been taken.
(d) If an employee is subsequently recalled
to testify, the subsequent request must be treated by the employer and employee
in the same manner an initial request is treated.
(e) An employee may take time off to testify
following the employer's regular time off policy without notifying the employer
of the purpose of the absence.
(4) No public employer may take any
disciplinary action against an employee for employee activity described by ORS
659A.203(1)(a).
An employer, however, is not precluded from taking disciplinary action if:
(a) The information disclosed by the employee
is known to be false;
(b) The
employee discloses the information with reckless disregard for its truth or
falsity;
(c) The information
disclosed relates to the employee's own violations, mismanagement, gross waste
of funds, abuse of authority, or endangerment of the public health and
safety.
Stat. Auth.: ORS
659A.805 & ORS
659A.221
Stats. Implemented: ORS
659A.200 - ORS
659A.224
