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Employment Department: Agency Subdivisions

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Business and Employment Services
Address: 875 Union St. NE, Salem 97311
Phone: 503-947-1670
Fax: 503-947-1658
Contact: Martin Burrows, Assistant Director
Statutory Authority: ORS 657.601

Duties and Responsibilities: The department serves employers by recruiting workers with skills matching employers’ needs and offering an innovative online tool called iMatchSkills® to match qualified candidates to job openings. The department helps job seekers find jobs that match their skills, provides them with information about trends in occupations and skills needed for success in the job market, and works with other agencies to direct job seekers to appropriate training programs. Veterans’ representatives provide the maximum level of employment and training opportunities for veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, including service-connected disabled veterans, veterans of the Vietnam era, veterans who are recently separated from military service and other eligible persons.

 

Child Care Division
Address: 875 Union St. NE, Salem 97311
Phone: 503-947-1407; 1-800-556-6616
Fax: 503-947-1428
E-mail: childcare.emp@state.or.us
Web: www.childcareinoregon.org
Contact: Kara Waddell, Administrator
Statutory Authority: ORS 657A.010

Duties and Responsibilities: The Child Care Division is responsible for regulating child care centers and family child care homes. The division also administers the federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) which provides support and assistance to low-income working families, child care resource and referral agencies, community-based child care programs, and training and technical assistance to child care providers. The division also uses CCDF funds to support child care for high risk populations including migrant and seasonal workers, parents in substance abuse treatment, teen and post secondary student parents, and children with special needs.

 

Commission for Child Care
Address: 875 Union St. NE, Salem 97311
Phone: 503-947-1891; 1-800-435-1427
Fax: 503-947-1428
Web: www.childcareinoregon.org
Contact: Heidi McGowan, Executive Officer
Statutory Authority: ORS 657A.600–657A.640

Duties and Responsibilities: The Commission for Child Care serves as an advisory board to the governor and the Legislature on the issues, problems, and alternative solutions that are critical to the development of accessible, affordable, and quality child care servi­ces. The commission is composed of 18 members. Three members represent the Legislature, are appointed to two-year terms and are non-voting. The 15 voting members represent specific areas of expertise and are appointed to three-year terms. The commission collaborates with public and private sector partners to advocate and provide information statewide for creative solutions to address Oregon’s child care challenges.

 

Unemployment Insurance Division
Address: 875 Union St. NE, Salem 97311
Phone: 503-947-1330
Fax: 503-947-1668
Web: www.oregon.gov/EMPLOY/UI/
Contact: Susan Johnson, Interim Director
Statutory Authority: ORS 657.601

Duties and Responsibilities: Unemployment Insurance benefits replace part of the income lost when workers become unemployed through no fault of their own. This softens the impact job losses have on workers and their communities.

The division is responsible for paying benefits to eligible claimants in an accurate and timely manner, deciding eligibility issues, discouraging fraud, and collecting taxes to fund the program.

 

The money used to pay Oregon unemployment insurance benefits comes from Oregon employers’ state payroll taxes. The taxes collected are deposited in a trust fund used to pay unemployment insurance benefits to unemployed Oregon workers. Benefit payments totaled over $2.6 billion in 2009.

 

Workforce and Economic Research Division
Address: 875 Union St. NE, Salem 97311
Phone: 503-947-1229
Fax: 503-947-1210
Web: www.QualityInfo.org
Contact: Graham Slater, Administrator
Statutory Authority: ORS 657.601

Duties and Responsibilities: The division’s team of economists, workforce analysts and researchers collect and analyze statewide and regional labor market information and help organizations and businesses apply it. Analysts provide concise, up-to-date information about the local and state economies and their effects on the workforce. Research staff studies labor force and related topics, supplies data and analysis to new and expanding firms, and analyzes occupational supply and demand, which is gathered through surveys sent to employers. Besides offering general information, staff is available to produce special reports upon request. Businesses, in turn, use this labor market information to identify challenges and opportunities. Economic development planners, educators and training providers, job applicants, legislators, and the news media also regularly rely on this information to learn about workforce issues that affect Oregonians.

 

Office of Administrative Hearings
Address: 4600 25th Ave. NE, Suite 140, Salem 97301; PO Box 14020, Salem 97309-4020
Phone: 503-947-1918
Fax: 503-947-1920
E-mail: OAH@emp.state.or.us
Web: www.oregon.gov/OAH/
Contact: Karla Forsythe, Chief Administrative Law Judge

Duties and Responsibilities: The Office of Administrative Hearings was created by the Legislature in 1999 to provide an independent and impartial forum for citizens and businesses to dispute state agency action against them. Sixty-five professional administrative law judges hold over 30,000 hearings a year for approximately 70 state agencies. By statute, all administrative law judges are required to be “impartial in the performance of [their] duties and shall remain fair in all hearings.” Oregon is the 22nd state in the nation with an independent central panel of administrative law judges.

 

Employment Appeals Board
Address: 875 Union St. NE, Salem 97311
Phone: 503-378-2077
Fax: 503-378-2129
Contact: Sarah Owens, Chair
Statutory Authority: ORS 657.685–657.690

Duties and Responsibilities: The three-member Employment Appeals Board (EAB) is appointed by the governor to review hearing decisions issued in contested unemployment insurance claims cases. The board performs new revisions of 2,500 to 3,000 cases per year, with authority to affirm, modify or reverse the decisions of administrative law judges of the Employment Department, or to remand for additional evidence. Final written decisions of the EAB are subject to review by the Oregon Court of Appeals.

Employment Department Advisory Council
Address: 875 Union St. NE, Salem 97311
Phone: 503-947-1732
Fax: 503-947-1878
Contact: Rebecca Nance Gamez, Coordinator
Statutory Authority: ORS 657.695

Duties and Responsibilities: The Employment Department Advisory Council includes volunteer representatives of the public, management and labor. Council members are appointed by the governor. The council assists the director of the Employment Department in the effective development of policies and programs with respect to unemployment insurance, employment services, labor market information, and child care.

Oregon Employer Council
Address: 875 Union St. NE, Salem 97311
Phone: 503-947-1305
Fax: 503-947-1309
Contact: Marney Roddick, Coordinator

Duties and Responsibilities: The Oregon Employer Council is a partnership between Oregon employers and the Employment Department. The council brings together volunteer employer representatives who serve as advisors to the Employment Department to identify and address employment issues, primarily in the areas of employment services and other business needs. The council also provides educational seminars and job fairs for employers.

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