PSU-AAUP Paid Leave Oregon Explainer

Paid Leave Oregon (PLO) is a new State program that provides three types of paid leave for qualifying circumstances: medical leave, family leave, and safe leave. Payments to employees are underwritten by either a State-run insurance program or an insurance program provided by a third party. PSU has elected to contract with The Standard Insurance Company to administer its paid family and medical leave insurance (PFMLI) program.

The PLO program gives employees another source of paid leave so they don’t have to use as much of their sick leave accruals as they normally would. The percentage of time covered by PLO varies, based on how much an employee earns; the less earned, the greater percentage of time is covered by PLO benefits. For example, suppose an employee needs to take 4 weeks (160 hours) off for an FMLA-eligible medical issue, and their pay rate makes them eligible to have PLO cover 75% of their pay. In that case, the remaining 25% would be covered by using 40 hours of the employee’s sick leave accrual. The two sources of leave time would combine so the employee does not experience any loss of pay during their absence.

Whether provided by the state or by a third party, any PFMLI program must meet certain minimum requirements. Employees must be allowed paid leaves for up to 12 weeks for qualifying events. In the case of family leaves, birth mothers may qualify for up to two additional weeks of paid leave for medical complications related to pregnancy or childbirth.

For circumstances that also qualify for leaves under the Federal Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and/or the Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA) – and this will often be the case – the employee will be entitled to up to four additional weeks of protected (although not paid) leave.

All PFMLI programs are funded by premiums paid by employees and/or employers, initially set a 1% of total salary and wages. PLO currently requires that employers pay no less than 40% of this premium and that employees pay no more than 60%.

In the case of employers enrolled in the state-run program, employers and their employees have been paying into the insurance pool since January. The contract that PSU signed with The Standard provides that premiums will not be paid until September 2003, when benefits will become available to employees.

What was Bargained

The current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) included a reopener for the negotiation of the implementation of the state law that created Paid Leave Oregon. Those negotiations concluded in May, resulting in two MOAs.

One MOA addresses the duration of leaves. The CBA now allows employees on FMLA, OFLA, or any other leave provided by law to supplement this leave with personal leave when it would otherwise end in the middle of an academic term. This personal leave is protected, not paid leave, and is subject to approval by the employee’s department or unit. The MOA changes the language in the CBA to allow employees to extend their leaves to 24 weeks, and this is no longer subject to the discretion of departments or units.

The other MOA addresses salary replacement. PLO provides a formula for calculating the weekly payment received by employees while they are on leave. Those earning up to $41,500/year receive 100% of their salary. Those earning more than this receive less depending on their income level. Benefits max out at $1,470/week, which is 68% of the weekly salary of someone earning $112,000/year; less for those earning more than this. For example, for someone earning $150,000/year, the maximum benefit is 51% of their weekly salary.

PSU’s sick leave policy allows an employee to use their accrued sick leave to replace their salary while they are on a qualifying leave. The MOA provides that qualifying leaves will now include paid leaves under PLO, so employees will be allowed to use accrued sick leave to top off their PFMLI payments up to 100% of their weekly salary. For bargaining unit members who have used all their accrued sick leave and are contributors to the Donated Sick Leave Bank, the maximum withdrawal from the bank will be increased from 40 to 60 days.

This provision means that any member of the bargaining unit, even those with no accrued sick leave, can use donated sick leave to achieve 100% salary replacement during PLO/FMLA/OFLA leaves up to 16 weeks, as long as they contribute to the DSLB. For those who want to supplement their paid leave with protected leaves up to 24 weeks, about 85% of the bargaining unit will be able to get to 100% salary replacement by combining 100 hours of accrued sick leave with donated sick leave.

Download this leave calculator to see how PFMLI and sick leave can be used to replace your salary while on leave.