https://www.oregon.gov/boli/workers/pages/oregon-family-leave.aspx
If your employer has 25 or more employees, you could qualify for protected leave under the Oregon Family Leave Act. That means you are allowed by law to take protected time off to take care of yourself or family members.
All Oregon workers get sick time, but those who work for larger employers can qualify for OFLA or the federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
Under OFLA, you can take up to a total of 12 weeks* of time off per year for any of these reasons.
Parental leave (either parent can take time off for the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child). *If you use all 12 weeks on this, you can take up to 12 more weeks for sick child leave.
Serious health condition (your own, or to care for a spouse, parent, parent-in-law, or child)
Pregnancy disability leave (before or after birth of child or for prenatal care). *You can take up to 12 weeks of this in addition to 12 weeks for any reason listed here.
Sick child leave (for your child with an illness or injury that requires home care but is not serious)
You can also take OFLA protected time if your child’s school or childcare provider is closed due to a statewide public health emergency, such as the COVID-19 pandemic school closures.
Military family leave (up to 14 days if your spouse is a service member who has been called to active duty or is on leave from active duty)
Bereavement leave (up to 2 weeks of leave after the death of a family member)
Your employer must continue to give you the same health insurance benefits when you’re on leave as when you are working. When you come back you must be returned to your former job or a similar position if your old job no longer exists.
To be eligible, you must have worked an average of 25 hours per week for 180 days - just 180 days for parental leave. Your employer must have at least 25 employees.
What does protected leave mean?
It means that you can take time off of work for certain reasons without having to worry about losing your job or being demoted. The Oregon Family Leave Act gives you the ability to take time off to care for yourself or others for a certain amount of time. Your employer must return you to your same (or similar) job when you come back from leave.
Right now family leave is protected, but often unpaid unless you have vacation, sick, or other paid leave available to use. Paid family leave is coming to Oregon in 2023.
When can I take protected family leave?
OFLA provides up to a total of 12 weeks* protected leave per year for any of these reasons.
Parental leave (either parent can take time off for the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child). *If you use the full 12 weeks as parental, you can also take 12 more weeks for sick child leave only.
Serious health condition (your own, or to care for a spouse, parent, parent-in-law, or child)
Pregnancy disability leave (before or after birth of child or for prenatal care). *You can take up to 12 weeks of pregnancy disability leave in addition to the 12 weeks for any reason listed here, including additional pregnancy disability leave.
Sick child leave (for your child with an illness or injury that requires home care but is not serious)
You can also take OFLA protected time if your child’s school or childcare provider is closed due to a statewide public health emergency, such as the 2020-2021 coronavirus pandemic school closures.
Military family leave (if your spouse is a service member who has been called to active duty or is on leave from active duty)
Bereavement leave (up to 2 weeks of leave after the death of a family member)
Your employer must keep giving you the same health insurance benefits as when you are working. When you come back you must be returned to your former job or a similar position if your old job no longer exists. To be eligible to take this time off, you must have worked an average of at least 25 hours per week for six months (180 days) beforehand for an employer with at least 25 employees.
What is sick child leave?
Sick child leave allows employees care for their child who has an illness or injury that is not a “serious health condition” but requires them to stay home. Sick child leave is also available when you need to care for your child because their school or child care provider is closed in connection with a statewide public health emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic. NOTE: The law applies to employers with 25 or more employees only. Employees must have been employed for 180 days and work an average 25 hours per week prior to taking sick child leave. Absences for compensable workplace injury or military service do not count against these requirements. Eligibility for sick child leave is also automatically triggered by using 12 weeks of OFLA parental leave or any pregnancy disability leave.
Who is eligible to take family leave?
Oregon workers that work for an employer with at least 25 employees and have been on the job for at least 180 days are eligible for parental leave.
For all other OFLA leave benefits, workers must have been employed for at least 180 days and also work at least an average of 25 hours a week during the 180 days before leave begins.
The Oregon Military Family Leave Act requires covered employers to grant leave to employees who have worked an average of at least 20 hours per week, but the law does not specify a period of time for applying the average, nor does it require any particular length of service as do OFLA (180 days) and FMLA (12 months).
To be eligible for FMLA leave, an employee must have worked for a covered employer for at least 12 months (not necessarily consecutive) and during the 12 months immediately preceding the leave must have worked at least 1,250 hours. Also, the employer must have 50 employees within a 75 mile radius of the employee’s worksite for the employee to be FMLA eligible.
How is my job protected while I’m on leave?
Your employer must return you to your former job or to an equivalent job if the former position no longer exists.
How much leave can I take?
With some notable exceptions, employees are entitled to 12 weeks within any one-year period. That exhausts the FMLA leave entitlement except for military caregivers leave, which can extend to 26 weeks in one leave year. Under OFLA, an employee may take up to 12 weeks of pregnancy disability leave in addition to the 12 weeks available for any OFLA purpose. Either parent who has taken a full 12 weeks of parental leave (e.g., to care for a newborn, newly adopted child or newly placed foster child) are also entitled to take up to an additional 12 weeks leave to care for a child with a non-serious health condition requiring home care.
What kind of notice is required?
Your employer may required you to give written notice up to 30 days in advance of the leave unless it is impracticable to do so, or if the leave is taken for an emergency.
Note that Oregon's sick time law also provides leave to an employee with a child whose school or place of care is closed by order of a public official. Under sick time regulations, employers may only require up to ten days' advance notice if leave is foreseeable, otherwise, as much notice as is practicable.
Am I paid for this leave?
There is no requirement that family leave time is paid by the employer (in 2023, paid family leave is coming to Oregon). However, you must be allowed to use any existing accrued paid leave, including sick leave, vacation leave or any paid leave offered in lieu of vacation leave.
Note: Employers can also require that employees use accrued paid leave during OFLA leave, and can dictate the order in which the leave is to be used as long as:
Prior to the commencement of OFLA leave, the employer provides written notice to the employee that accrued paid leave is to be used during OFLA leave;
Or within five (5) business days of the employee's notice of unforeseeable leave, the employer provides written notice to the employee; and
To do so is consistent with a collective bargaining agreement or other written agreement between the eligible employee and the covered employer or an employer policy.
If using Oregon Military Family Leave, you are entitled to use accrued paid leave and may dictate the order in which it is used.
What are the main differences between OFLA and FMLA?
OFLA applies to employers with 25 or more employees in Oregon in the current or previous year. To qualify for protected leave, employees must have been employed for at least 180 calendar days immediately preceding the date the leave begins (this includes all days the employee is maintained on the payroll) and have worked an average of 25 hours a week (except for parental leave, when no weekly average is required).
FMLA applies to employers with 50 or more employees in the current or previous year. To be eligible for FMLA leave, employees must have worked for the employer for at least 12 months (not necessarily consecutive), and have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12-month period immediately preceding the leave. Also, the employer must have 50 employees within a 75 mile radius of the employee’s worksite for the employee to be FMLA eligible.
OFLA also has a greatly expanded list of “family members” compared to FMLA. FMLA only provides for protected time off for the serious health condition of the employee or his or her spouse, child or parent (or one standing in the place of a parent or child of the employee). OFLA also extends to grandparents and grandchildren, parents-in-law, same-gender domestic partners and children and parents of same-gender domestic partners.
OFLA (but not FMLA) has sick child leave (non-serious health condition requiring home care) and the additional allotment of leave following pregnancy disability leave and sick child leave following 12 weeks of parental leave. FMLA (but not OFLA) has military caregiver leave and qualifying exigency leave.
OFLA (but not FMLA) has bereavement leave which is the leave to make funeral arrangements, attend the funeral or to grieve a family member who has passed away. This leave is limited to two weeks and must be completed within 60 days of the date when the employee learned of the death. Bereavement leave will count toward the total amount of OFLA eligible leave.
If my employer is covered by both OFLA and FMLA, does that mean they are required to give me 24 weeks of leave, instead of 12 weeks, in a year?
Generally, no. OFLA provides that leave counted as FMLA is also counted as OFLA if it is also an OFLA qualifying circumstance, if the employer was covered by both laws and if the employee was eligible under both laws at the time the leave was taken. Therefore, if an employee needs 10 weeks to care for a parent with a serious health condition, the 10 weeks are counted against both OFLA and FMLA leave entitlements, and the employee has two weeks of leave left in the year. There are a few situations, however, such as sick child leave and leave to care for a parent-in-law, grandparent or grandchild with a serious health condition, in which OFLA provides for leave and FMLA does not, so it is not possible to count the leave toward the FMLA entitlement. In such cases, an employer might be required to grant more than 12 weeks of leave in a year. Conversely, some FMLA circumstances do not necessarily qualify under OFLA.
It is also common for an employee to become OFLA eligible after 180 days but still not be FMLA eligible until 12 months has passed. Any use of OFLA leave prior to becoming FMLA eligible will not count against the employee's FMLA entitlement.
Are both parents entitled to a full 12 weeks of parental leave?
Yes, under OFLA, but not under FMLA if the parents are married. OFLA employers are not required to allow both parents to take parental leave at the same time, but each can take the full 12 weeks. OFLA states that family members working for the same employer may not take family leave at the same time unless one of the employees is suffering from a serious health condition, the child is suffering from a serious health condition, or the employer allows the taking of concurrent leave.
Example: XYZ Corporation employs both the mother and father of a newborn child. Although parental leave can be taken any time within a year of birth, both parents would prefer to take parental leave during the 12 weeks immediately following the birth. The employer can require the parents to take leave consecutively instead of concurrently.
FMLA allows the employees to take parental leave concurrently, but limits married parents to a combined total of 12 weeks. In dual coverage situations, employers must apply the law most favorable to the employee, such that the married parents could take a combined total of 12 weeks concurrently (FMLA), after which they could take the balance of the 12 weeks each has remaining, but separately if the employer requires it (OFLA).
Template for Certification of Serious Health Condition