How to File a Wage Claim in Oregon

The Oregon rule in one table

What makes Oregon different

Oregon is the only state in this directory where the agency track and the court track must be kept apart on purpose. BOLI's current complaint page says you can file a complaint through its Complaint Resolution Center — and states no deadline for doing so. The 6-year and 2-year figures belong to the court track: the general statute of limitations reported for wage cases is 6 years, and the statute of limitations reported for overtime cases is 2 years. Older secondary pages quote a 180-day BOLI window; the live BOLI page does not, so treating 180 days as BOLI's rule would misstate the agency's own position. File promptly anyway — the court clocks run regardless, and the overtime clock is the shorter one.

The process, step by step

1. File through BOLI's Complaint Resolution Center. With the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI), through its Complaint Resolution Center, or by contacting BOLI at 971-245-3844 or BOLI_help@boli.oregon.gov.
2. Do not plan around a BOLI deadline that is not published. BOLI's current complaint page states no filing deadline. The court limitations periods reported for wage cases are separate: 6 years for regular and minimum-wage claims and 2 years for overtime claims.
3. Treat the overtime clock as the binding one for overtime pay. The general statute of limitations reported for wage cases is 6 years, and the statute of limitations reported for overtime cases is 2 years. So an overtime claim ages out years before a regular-wage claim from the same job.
4. Ignore the stale 180-day figure for BOLI filings. No 180-day deadline appears on BOLI's current complaint page, and this page does not state one as BOLI's rule — older secondary pages quote 180 days, but the live BOLI page does not, so do not rely on that figure for a BOLI filing.
5. Keep the court track in view. If BOLI does not resolve the claim, the court limitations periods above are the ones that decide whether a lawsuit is still available — get advice early rather than waiting to find out.

For the deadline on the pay itself — when a final paycheck is due — see the Oregon final paycheck deadline guide. Comparing states, the Wage Claim Filing by State directory puts all seven side by side.

Filing a wage claim in another state

Filing a wage claim in another state? See How to File a Wage Claim in Colorado and How to File a Wage Claim in California.

Source

BOLI filing route and absence of a published deadline, verified by reading the live page 2026-10-24: BOLI Wage and Hour Complaint. Court limitation periods (secondary sources, not BOLI): How to Report Wage Theft in Oregon and Filing a Wage and Hour Claim — Oregon. Facts verified 2026-10-24.

This page explains how the process works and what the official rules say. It is general information, not legal advice — for a dispute about your specific situation, talk to a lawyer or your state labor or consumer agency.