Paid Leave Oregon was passed into law by the Oregon State Legislature in 2019 to ensure that Oregon workers are able to have much-needed support when taking time off to care for a baby or loved one, or to recover from illness or injury. With this program, most Oregon employees who work full or part-time will be eligible for up to 12 weeks of paid leave per year. Both employers and employees started paying into the paid leave trust fund in January 2023, and those funds are what make the program possible. Benefits will become available starting on September 3, 2023. Here’s what you need to know:

What are the benefits of Paid Leave Oregon?

Paid leave is available to employees who take family, medical, or safe leave. Twelve weeks per year are available as paid leave (with up to two additional weeks for those who are pregnant or have given birth), and it can be taken consecutively or intermittently, as the employee chooses. Benefits are paid as a percentage of the employee’s wages, and are based on the prior year’s wages and income. The maximum benefit is 120% of the state average weekly wage (which is updated each July by the Oregon Employment Department, and is $1,269.69 for 2023/24). Paid Leave Oregon also protects an employee’s job and role who have been with their employer for longer than 90 days.

What types of events qualify?

• Family leave: birth of a child, adoption, foster care, or to care for a family member with a serious health condition
• Medical leave: to care for yourself if you have a serious health condition
• Safe leave: for survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, harassment, or stalking

Who is eligible for benefits?

Most Oregon employees who made at least $1,000 the year prior are eligible for paid leave benefits, including employees who work for non-profit organizations. Tribal governments, self-employed individuals, and independent contractors may choose to participate. Federal government employees, participants in a work training or federal assistance program, participants in a work-study program, volunteers, and railroad employees exempted under the federal Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act are not covered. To be eligible for job and role protection, the employee must have worked for their employer for at least 90 days prior to applying for benefits.

How is the trust fund funded?

The Employment Department sets the contribution rate (up to 1% of an employee’s total wages, up to $132,900); employers contribute 40% of the total contribution, and employees contribute 60%, unless their employer chooses to contribute their portion. Employers with fewer than 25 employees are not required to contribute, but still need to collect and submit employee contributions.

How do you apply for benefits?

Frances Online allows you to apply online and check the status of your application and payments. Alternatively, you can access an application form here and submit it by mail. There is no waiting period to begin receiving benefits, though you are required to provide your employer with 30 days of notice before taking leave, unless giving notice is not possible because of an emergency.

Where can you find more information?

The Paid Leave Oregon website has a wealth of information, including overviews and FAQs for both employees and employers. Below are links to a few very useful pages:

• · Home page: https://paidleave.oregon.gov/
• · Employee overview: https://paidleave.oregon.gov/employees/overview.html
• · Employee toolkit: https://paidleave.oregon.gov/employees/employee-toolkit.html
• · Benefits calculator: https://paidleave.oregon.gov/employees/benefits-calculator.html
• · Forms and checklist: https://paidleave.oregon.gov/resources/forms-and-checklists.html
• · Overview fact sheet (2 pages): https://d1o0i0v5q5lp8h.cloudfront.net/paidleave/stage/assets/resources/Paid-Leave-Overview-English.pdf
• · Employee FAQs: https://paidleave.oregon.gov/resources/common-questions.html#employeefaqs
• · Employer overview: https://paidleave.oregon.gov/employers-overview/