Hi! What benefit has surprised you? Or you didn't know we have?
I'm still trying to get a good handle on the benefits available. One that surprised me was gym discounts (not sure whether this is only available through Moda).
I've applied to a few dozen jobs, have had one interview and did not get the job. I have government experience and a good resume. Am I at a disadvantage applying out of state, doing something wrong, is it too competitive? Any insight is appreciated!
The officials responsible for enforcing Oregon state government’s HR rules were themselves found to have violated those rules.
An independent personnel investigation substantiated or partially substantiated six categories of findings involving Kyle Weraky, then administrator of Oregon’s Classification and Compensation unit:
Manipulating state recruitment processes.
Improperly denying an employee’s disability-accommodation request to work remotely.
Removing two employees’ “work-out-of-class pending reclassification” status, affecting their pay, partly over performance concerns that were not handled through proper performance-management procedures.
Inappropriately disciplining an employee using reports containing factual inaccuracies.
Speaking negatively or inappropriately about employees to nonsupervisory coworkers.
Failing to satisfy required conditions in one reviewed direct appointment.
These are especially serious findings because Weraky’s position concerned the very systems governing state hiring, classification and compensation.
This was not simply an employee-relations dispute—it was a failure by an HR control owner entrusted with protecting employees, enforcing fair processes and limiting organizational risk.
The investigation also substantiated findings involving former Chief Human Resources Officer Jessica Knieling, including:
Direct appointments that did not fully satisfy state HR requirements.
Bad-faith interference with a former employee’s effort to obtain a permanent Oregon Youth Authority position.
Directing the denial of the same disability-accommodation request without sufficient consideration of available remote-work technology.
Knieling was fired, while Weraky resigned. Knieling has disputed the investigation’s conclusions.
These are administrative personnel-investigation findings, not criminal convictions. But as an HR and compliance finding, the central problem is stark: senior officials charged with enforcing fair employment procedures were found to have disregarded those procedures themselves.
CURRENT REPORTING:
OPB — “Investigative report alleges Oregon’s HR chief was fired after not following state policies”:
Statesman Journal — “Multiple claims accused Oregon DAS HR leaders of abuse of power”
BACKGROUND REPORTING:
OPB — Initial reporting on Knieling’s firing and Weraky’s resignation
Statesman Journal/AOL — “Oregon’s chief HR officer ousted during personnel investigation”
The legislature modified the language of the law during COVID to make it so people could retire in PERS, but be rehired fulltime back into their position. This has spread like wildfire at my worksite and all the 20+ year staff are milking the fuck out of it. Many people, myself included, feel like our career progression is stalling because these people are camping out in their senior positions instead of retiring. The last few rounds of promotions wound up just being formalities so the retirees could be rehired back into their current positions. This is decimating morale and I'm seeing many of my hardworking peers who keep getting conned by these fake promotional interviews give up, and relegate themselves to doing the bare minimum because it seems like the hiring process for these advanced opportunities is simply a "check the box" for the retire/rehires. Why bother going the extra mile to be a standout employee if you aren't going to be able to move up?
I brought this up at a union meeting like a year ago and our local president said that DAS was requiring all worksites within our department to have a unified policy. I have yet to find any documentation to support that claim. Having talked to some people at other worksites within my department I'm starting to think this may be false, but I'm still working on gathering information. If that was a lie from our president for their own benefit (who is now retire/rehired), I will definitely be looking at what processes we have to hold them accountable.
I made this post partly to vent and partly to seek advice. Is anybody else having this issue where they work?
I switched my Insurance from KP to Providence in October 2025 (during open enrollment). Then at the end of October, I was admitted to hospital for sudden back pain. A week later in November I was diagnosed with advanced stage cancer. At this point, change in insurance was done and I could not change it anymore.
For treatment, I was prescribed to do multiple rounds of chemo immediately. The KP oncologist told me it is imperative that I do chemo exactly as planned as my survival depends on it. Unfortunately, a third of my chemo would be in 2026, which I would not be a KP member anymore.
Here is the issue. I repeatedly called KP to get continuity of care so that I can finish the chemo with them on-time before switching to another healthcare provider that accepts my health insurance. Kaiser refused to provide me with continuity of care. They told me even if my chemo infusion appointments are not cancelled, the doors would be closed to me starting next year. They said since I voluntarily switched from KP even though the plan was offered to me, they have no legal obligation to provide me with continuity of care. They even did not provide me with any guidance on how I should schedule care with another hospital. Through a miracle, a doctor friend told us to start talking immediately with other oncology centers. I just emailed several oncologists at OHSU and they kindly replied to me. One of them managed to meet me in December 2025 (I paid out of pocket) and then managed my care on-time in January 2026. I am super grateful to OHSU.
KP put me through a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety. To say that I am furious with them is an understatement. My understanding is that they r right that they do not have any legal obligation to provide me with continuity of care. I also managed to transfer my case mid-chemo to OHSU. So, I may not have a legal option to sue them (although not 100% sure). But, I think I should do something about this, so that this does not happen to others. I was wondering if anyone has any suggestion of what I should do?