Oregon wrote the country’s strongest outdoor heat and smoke rules after the 2021 heat dome — and in January 2026 made owners and general contractors liable for their subs’ unpaid wages. CDO's engine is built to California's standard — the strictest in the country — so in Oregon it runs with headroom: GPS-verified punches, live break and overtime math on Oregon's actual rules, bilingual EN/ES crews, and the minute-level record that decides wage disputes.
Oregon construction overtime is weekly: 1.5× past 40 hours. Crews get a paid 10-minute rest per 4 hours and a 30-minute meal on longer shifts. Heat rules trigger on heat index, at 80 and 90°F. Minimum wage since July 1, 2026 is $15.55 standard, $16.80 Portland metro and $14.55 nonurban.
Oregon’s heat rule triggers on heat index, not air temperature — a distinction that makes thermometer-based compliance unreliable. Under OAR 437-002-0156, permanent since 2022, an 80°F heat index requires water, shade, monitoring, and training; a 90°F heat index adds a mandatory written rest-break schedule and acclimatization for new and returning workers. The rule explicitly covers construction. Oregon also maintains permanent wildfire-smoke rules keyed to air quality index, adopted after the 2020 fire season and 2021 heat dome.
Overtime is weekly-only past 40 hours for construction; Oregon’s daily-overtime-after-10-hours rule applies to manufacturing establishments specifically, not construction. Meal periods run 30 minutes for work periods of six to eight hours (longer days add more), with timing requirements by shift length, and an unrelieved meal must be paid in full. The significant recent change is SB 426, effective January 1, 2026: owners and prime contractors are now jointly and severally liable for unpaid wages owed by a subcontractor at any tier to non-union employees. Oregon had no such exposure before this.
| Rule | Oregon | For contrast: California |
|---|---|---|
| Overtime | Weekly — 1.5× past 40 hrs (daily rules apply to manufacturing, not construction) | Daily past 8, double time past 12, 7th-day rules |
| Meal breaks | 30 min for 6–8 hour work periods; timing rules by shift length | Before end of hour 5; second before hour 10 |
| Rest breaks | 10 min paid per 4 hours | Paid 10 min per 4 hours, duty-free |
| Heat rules | Permanent heat + wildfire smoke rules — triggered by heat index | Cal/OSHA §3395 — shade, water, cool-downs |
| Minimum wage | Since Jul 1, 2026: $15.55 standard, $16.80 Portland metro, $14.55 nonurban | State rate plus many higher local rates |
Summary as of October 2026 — rules move; verify current requirements with the Oregon labor department and qualified counsel. The California column is there for scale, not because it applies to you: it's the regime CDO's engine was built to, which is why Oregon's rules run inside it with room to spare.
Oregon’s outdoor rules came out of hard experience — the 2020 wildfire season and the 2021 Pacific Northwest heat dome that killed workers in the field — and they are correspondingly strict. OAR 437-002-0156 has been permanent since 2022 and explicitly covers construction. Critically, it is triggered by heat index rather than raw air temperature: at an 80°F heat index, employers must provide water, shade, monitoring, and training; at a 90°F heat index, a written rest-break schedule becomes mandatory along with acclimatization protocols for new and returning workers.
That heat-index distinction is not academic. On a humid day, an air temperature in the mid-70s can produce a heat index above 80°F — meaning a crew whose foreman is watching a thermometer can be out of compliance without any indication that a threshold was crossed. Compliance requires computing the index from temperature and humidity, which is exactly the sort of thing software should do rather than a person on a roof.
Oregon also maintains permanent wildfire smoke rules keyed to air quality index thresholds, requiring exposure controls and respiratory protection as AQI climbs. For a state where smoke season now overlaps roofing season, this is a second live constraint on outdoor work.
On hours, Oregon is more moderate than its heat rules suggest. Overtime for construction is weekly-only past 40 hours. The daily-overtime-after-10-hours rule that appears in Oregon summaries applies to manufacturing establishments, not construction, and misapplying it is a common source of confusion. Meal periods under OAR 839-020-0050 run 30 minutes for work periods of six to eight hours (longer days add further meal periods) with the employee fully relieved of duty; for shifts of seven hours or less the meal must start after the end of the second hour and finish before the start of the fifth, and for longer shifts after the end of the third hour and before the start of the sixth. An unrelieved meal period must be paid in full. Rest breaks are 10 paid minutes per 4-hour segment, near the midpoint.
The most consequential recent change has nothing to do with weather. SB 426, effective January 1, 2026, makes owners and prime contractors strictly, jointly and severally liable for unpaid wages and benefits owed by a subcontractor at any tier to non-union employees. There is a 21-day cure notice and a two-year statute of limitations. Exemptions cover an owner’s principal residence, developments of five units or fewer, and public-agency owners. Oregon contractors had no exposure of this kind before 2026 — which means standard subcontract indemnity language written before then was not drafted with it in mind.
Wages are regional: Portland metro, standard, and non-urban rates, all CPI-indexed and adjusted every July 1 rather than January 1. Since July 1, 2026 the rates are $15.55 standard, $16.80 Portland metro and $14.55 nonurban; they next adjust on July 1, 2027. Contractors working across the metro boundary run more than one floor.
The heat rule triggers on heat index, not air temperature. A crew tracking a thermometer will miss the threshold on humid days — 76°F at high humidity can exceed an 80°F heat index — and there is no signal on the thermometer that anything happened. The second, newer trap: since January 1, 2026, Oregon owners and prime contractors are jointly and severally liable for a sub’s unpaid wages at any tier under SB 426, with a two-year lookback. This exposure did not exist in Oregon before 2026, so subcontract agreements drafted earlier were not written to allocate it — and many GCs still assume paying the sub in full ends the matter.
Wherever the rules land on the strictness scale, the constant is the same: disputes are decided by records. CDO's GPS-verified, minute-level, bilingual punch trail — reviewed by AI, with exceptions surfaced for human judgment — is the record that wins them. See why teams pick CDO
OAR 437-002-0156 and the wildfire-smoke rules become permanent following the 2020 fire season and the 2021 heat dome. Heat triggers are set on heat index at 80°F and 90°F.
Owners and prime contractors become strictly, jointly and severally liable for a subcontractor’s unpaid wages at any tier to non-union employees. 21-day cure notice, two-year statute of limitations.
Oregon’s three regional minimum wages rose on July 1, 2026: $15.55 standard, $16.80 Portland metro and $14.55 nonurban, a 3.3% CPI adjustment announced by BOLI in April.
Portland metro, standard, and non-urban rates all move on the CPI schedule annually.
Dated items reflect what was publicly on the books or scheduled as of October 3, 2026. Effective dates slip and rules get amended — confirm current status before you rely on any of this.
Overtime: Weekly — 1.5× past 40 hrs. Meals: 30 min, beginning between hours 2 and 5 of the shift.
See Washington rules Neighboring stateOvertime: Two-tier: daily 8-hr OT below $18.00/hr; weekly 40 for everyone. Meals: 30 min unpaid for a continuous 8-hour shift.
See Nevada rules California guideDaily overtime, double time and the seventh-day rule — the benchmark the engine is built to.
Read the guide California guideThe fifth-hour meal window, the §226.7 premium, and waivers.
Read the guide CalculatorRun a shift against California overtime and double-time rules.
Open the calculator CalculatorTest a day against the §512 window and the premium it can owe.
Open the calculatorUnder OAR 437-002-0156, permanent since 2022 and explicitly covering construction, an 80°F heat index requires water, shade, monitoring, and training. A 90°F heat index adds a mandatory written rest-break schedule and acclimatization protocols for new and returning workers. The trigger is heat index computed from temperature and humidity, not raw air temperature — which means a thermometer alone cannot tell you whether you are in compliance.
No. Construction overtime in Oregon is weekly-only at 1.5× the regular rate past 40 hours. The daily-overtime-after-10-hours rule that appears in many Oregon summaries applies specifically to manufacturing establishments, not to construction, and applying it to a roofing or field-services crew is a common error.
A law effective January 1, 2026 making property owners and prime contractors strictly, jointly and severally liable for unpaid wages and benefits owed by a subcontractor at any tier to non-union employees. It provides a 21-day cure notice and a two-year statute of limitations, and exempts an owner’s principal residence, developments of five units or fewer, and public-agency owners. Oregon had no comparable liability before 2026, so subcontract agreements drafted earlier generally do not allocate this risk.
Under OAR 839-020-0050, a 30-minute meal period with the employee fully relieved of duty is required for work periods of six to eight hours, with further meals on longer days. For shifts of seven hours or less, the meal must begin after the end of the second hour and finish before the start of the fifth; for longer shifts, after the end of the third hour and before the start of the sixth. If the employee is not fully relieved, the meal period must be paid in full. Rest breaks are 10 paid minutes for each 4-hour segment, taken near the midpoint.
Every July 1, not January 1 — an off-cycle date that catches payroll teams used to January adjustments. Oregon runs three regional rates, all CPI-indexed; since July 1, 2026 they are $16.80 in the Portland metro area, $15.55 standard and $14.55 nonurban. Contractors working across the metro boundary are subject to more than one rate.
CDO is in a pilot with one California roofing contractor. For Oregon it logs heat-recovery breaks, checks the meal-timing window by shift length, and keeps the minute-level, worker-level time records a general contractor can ask a subcontractor for under SB 426. Heat index has to come from a weather source, so confirm how your crew measures it.
GPS-verified clock-ins, breaks and overtime computed live, and the exceptions that need a human — shown on a working crew in 20 minutes.
CDO is in a pilot with one California roofing contractor. Software, not legal advice.