Oregon Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program is Here

What You Need to Know

• Oregon Paid Family and Medical Leave (“OR PFML”) premium withholdings began January 1, 2023
• Mandatory notice and poster required January 1, 2023
• Equivalent plan applications are due February 28, 2023 or May 31, 2023 to be exempt from upcoming reporting deadlines
• Eligible employees can start receiving Oregon PFML benefits as of September 3, 2023.[1]

Key Dates

Oregon PFML, which is also referred to as “Paid Leave Oregon” and is funded by a combination of employer and employee contributions, has a number of key dates and deadlines that Oregon employers should be aware of. Beginning January 1, 2023, employers started collecting employees’ premium contributions (to the extent they have not opted to cover the employee portion of the premium). Employers with 25 or more employees also started to pay into the program on January 1, 2023 (to the extent employers have not opted to administer a private equivalent plan). Additionally, on January 1, 2023, employers were required to display the paid leave mandatory poster in each work site. The poster also must be provided electronically or by mail to any remote workers.

The initial wage reporting and premium payment period is from January to March 2023. The first quarterly payroll report deadline is April 30, 2023.

Employers who opt to provide paid family, medical, and safe leave benefits through an equivalent plan instead of using the state program must submit their equivalent plan applications by: (a) February 28, 2023 to be exempt from paying contributions beginning the second quarter that starts April 1, 2023; or (b) May 31, 2023 to be exempt from paying contributions beginning the third quarter that starts July 1, 2023.

Equivalent plans will be effective on September 3, 2023, when employees can start applying for benefits. Small employers (fewer than 25 employees) may also begin to apply for assistance grants beginning September 3, 2023.

Summary of Key Provisions

Employer Coverage. “Employer” under the law means any person that employs one or more employees working anywhere in the state of Oregon. It does not include the federal government, tribal government (may elect coverage), and self-employed individuals or independent contractors (may elect coverage). If an employer has 25 or more employees, then the employer is required to contribute to Oregon PFML funding. Employers with less than 25 employees are not required to contribute to funding the state program, but employers must still collect and submit employee contributions.

Covered Individuals. For an individual to be eligible to receive PFML benefits, the individual must be an “employee,” which includes full-time, part-time and seasonal employees and employee who work for  more than one employer. It does not include independent contractor, employees of tribal government, federal government employees, participates in work-study programs, or volunteers.

Eligibility. Employees are eligible to receive paid leave benefits if they have earned $1,000 in wage during the base year or alternate base year. “Base year” means the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters preceding the benefit year. “Alternative base year” means the last four completed calendar quarters preceding the benefit year. Benefits are based on wages from all employment in Oregon, including full-time, part-time, temporary, and seasonal work.

Mandatory Posting and Notice to Employees. Beginning January 1, 2023, employers must display the paid leave notice in each building or worksite in an area that is accessible to and regularly frequented by employees. Employers must provide notice to remote-work employees by hand, electronic, or regular mail upon the employee’s hire or assignment to remote work. Employers must also provide notice to employees about OR PFML benefits at the time of hire and each time the policy or procedure changes. The notice must be in the language the employer typically uses to communicate with employees. The model poster is available in a variety of different languages and can be found here.

Covered Reasons. Oregon PFML benefits will be available for the following covered reasons:

• Family Leave: the covered individual needs to care for a family member experiencing a serious health condition. Family member includes: spouses and domestic partners, children, parents, siblings or stepsiblings, grandparents, grandchildren, and any individual related by blood or affinity, whose relationship is equivalent to family;
• Parental Leave: the covered individual is caring for a child during the first year after the birth, adoption, or placement of the child;
• Medical Leave: the covered individual has a serious health condition that makes them unable to perform the functions of their position.
• Safe Leave: for certain absences related to sexual assault, domestic violence, harassment, or stalking.[2]

Amount of Leave. Under OR PFML, employees are eligible to up to 12 weeks of paid leave per benefit year in any combination of family, medical, and safe leave. The amount of available OR PFML benefits for medical leave increases to 14 weeks per benefit year if the employee experiences a serious health condition related to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition, including but not limited to lactation.

Funding. As noted above, OR PFML is funded by a combination of employer and employee premium contributions. For 2023, the contribution rate is 1% of each employee’s wages, up to a maximum of $132,900 for the year. Employees pay 60% of the contribution rate and employers pay 40% of the contribution rate. The contribution rate is set annually and will not be more than 1% of each employee’s gross wages. The maximum amount of wages is adjusted annually based on inflation. Under the law, employers may choose to cover all or part of the employee contribution.

Benefit Amount. The weekly benefit for OR PFML is based on the employee’s average wages from the previous year. If the employee’s average weekly wage is equal or less than 65% of the state average weekly wage, the employee’s weekly benefit amount is 100% of the employee’s average weekly wage. If the employee’s average weekly wage is greater than 65% of the state average weekly wage, the employee’s weekly benefit amount is the sum of: (a) 65% of the state average weekly wage, and (b) 50% of the employee’s average weekly wage that is greater than 65% of the state average weekly wage.

Job/Employment Protection. A covered individual who receives Oregon PFML benefits is entitled to job protection if they have been employed for at least 90 calendar days. Employees are also entitled to return to the position they held before the start of leave, if that position still exists.

During covered leave, employers must maintain any health care benefits that a covered individual had before taking the leave for the duration of the leave. The covered individual must also continue to pay their share of the cost of health care benefits as required before the commencement of the leave.

Equivalent Plans. A covered employer may apply to the Oregon Employment Department to meet the employer’s obligation under the law through an equivalent private plan. To be approved, a private plan must meet a number of substantive requirements, such as, but not limited to, providing the right amount of leave, making the leave available for the right reasons, and providing the right amount of pay to employees on leave.

Assistance Grants. Small employers (fewer than 25 employees) who commit to pay employer contributions for eight calendar quarters and do not have any delinquent reports, contributions, or unpaid penalties may be eligible to receive assistant grants. A small employer may apply for up to 10 grants each year, once per employee. A small employer may apply for an employee assistance grant only after an eligible employee is approved for qualifying paid leave. The employer has up to four months after the end of the employee’s leave to apply for a grant. Assistant grants will be available starting September 3, 2023.

Employer Takeaways

With the paid leave landscape continuing to rapidly expand and grow in complexity, we encourage companies to reach out to their Seyfarth contact for solutions and recommendations for addressing compliance with paid leave requirements.

To stay up-to-date on paid leave developments, click here to sign up for Seyfarth’s Paid Leave mailing list. Companies interested in Seyfarth’s paid family leave laws survey should reach out to paidleave@seyfarth.com.

 

[1] Besides Oregon, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Washington, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco (CA)  have previously enacted mandatory paid family leave (“PFL”) laws. In addition, New Hampshire and Vermont have instituted voluntary PFL programs in recent years. Certain mandatory PFL laws are more appropriately called paid family and medical leave laws because they include benefits for absences related to an employee’s own medical condition, as well as “family” leave (e.g., bonding with a new child; care of a family member with a serious health condition; etc.). There are currently four PFL laws — California, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island — that do not offer leave benefits for an employee’s own medical condition. However, each of these jurisdictions offers a separate state disability insurance benefit. San Francisco’s program is tied to the California state PFL program and is limited to paid parental leave.

[2] OR PFML covered absences for “Safe Leave” include the following: (1) To seek legal or law enforcement assistance or remedies to ensure the health and safety of the employee or the employee’s minor child or dependent, including preparing for and participating in protective order proceedings or other civil or criminal legal proceedings related to domestic violence, harassment, sexual assault or stalking; (2) To seek medical treatment for or to recover from injuries caused by domestic violence, sexual assault, harassment or stalking of the eligible employee or the employee’s minor child or dependent; (3) To obtain, or to assist a minor child or dependent in obtaining, counseling from a licensed mental health professional; (4) To obtain services from a victim services provider for the eligible employee or the employee’s minor child or dependent; and (5) To relocate or take steps to secure an existing home.