Oregon employers rarely pay penalties for wage theft. The state wants that to change
From 2015 through 2020, employers paid just 11% of penalties in full.
Bad TL;DR:
Employers rarely get penalized for wage theft, because they settle often, especially because employees are encouraged to settle because 1) they get their money faster and 2) because the odds of the company paying go down if they don't settle.
Oregon wants to discourage companies from their current bad behavior because at the moment there's very little to dissuade a company from not paying and then settling, especially because they avoid any repercussions.
They need CRIMINAL FUCKING PENALTIES NOT (just) FUCKING FINES. Steal from your employer and you can go to jail. Why should it not be the same the other way around?
If the punishment is a fine, it's legal if you have enough money. What a half-assed solution. Better than nothing, I guess?