FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Anthony Smith, NFIB Oregon State Director, anthony.smith@nfib.org
or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, anthony.malandra@nfib.org

SALEM, Ore., May 11, 2026—Oregon’s leading small business association filed an amicus brief last Friday supporting a request for the Oregon Supreme Court to review whether employees can ignore an employer’s instructions to take a full meal break, and then claim a right to compensation based on that insubordination. The Court of Appeals held that employees who clock in early from their 30-minute meal break, contrary to their employers’ instruction, are entitled to be paid for the full 30 minutes.

“Unfortunately, the creativity of the Court of Appeals has put Oregon employers in an untenable situation,” said Anthony Smith, state director for NFIB in Oregon. “We need the Oregon Supreme Court to set things right.”

NFIB joined with Oregon Business & Industry and the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association in urging the State’s highest court to review the Court of Appeals’ decision. Our brief highlights the absurdity of that decision:

“Employees who periodically return from their lunch breaks a minute early stand to create multi-million-dollar liabilities for their employers, even when employers have directed employees to take, and have provided the time employees need to take, their required 30-minute meal break.”

NFIB’s brief argues that the lower court’s decision is “draconian,” legally wrong, and “threaten[s] the ability of Oregon businesses to gainfully employ Oregonians.”

Keep up with the latest Oregon small business news at www.nfib.com or on X at @NFIB_OR

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For over 80 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven association. Since its founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.

National Federation of Independent Business
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Salem, OR 97301
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