Paid Leave Oregon Statute: Eligibility, Benefits, and Job Protection

Paid Leave Oregon is a state insurance program that pays most Oregon workers a portion of their wages when they need time off for a serious health condition, to care for a family member, or to deal with domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, harassment, or a bias crime. Eligible workers can receive up to 12 weeks of paid benefits in a benefit year (14 weeks in some pregnancy-related situations), and the program is funded by payroll contributions capped at 1% of wages up to $184,500 in 2026.¹

Who Qualifies

The earnings bar is low. If you earned at least $1,000 in Oregon wages during your base year (the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before your benefit year begins), you can apply.² Part-time and seasonal workers regularly clear it.

Private-sector and public employees are covered. Federal employees and tribal government employees are not automatically included, though tribal employers can opt in.³ Working for a small employer doesn’t change your eligibility: employers with fewer than 25 workers still withhold your share of contributions and you can still claim benefits.⁴

Self-employed workers and independent contractors aren’t covered automatically. They can elect coverage, but the commitment is at least three years of paying contributions. Benefits become available as early as the quarter after the first contribution payment.⁵

What You Can Take Leave For

The program covers three types of leave: medical leave for your own serious health condition, family leave to care for a relative with a serious health condition, and safe leave connected to violence, harassment, stalking, or bias crimes.⁶

Medical Leave

A serious health condition means an illness, injury, or physical or mental condition that requires hospital or inpatient care, or that involves ongoing treatment from a health care provider.⁷ Chronic conditions like diabetes or epilepsy qualify. So do temporary but incapacitating situations like surgical recovery and pregnancy complications. Mental health conditions requiring treatment are explicitly covered. Routine doctor’s visits and common colds usually don’t qualify unless complications develop.

Family Leave

Family leave lets you care for a relative with a serious health condition. Oregon defines “family member” broadly. Beyond parents, children, and spouses, the definition reaches domestic partners and anyone related by blood or by a close personal bond that resembles a family relationship.⁷ For close-bond claims, the Employment Department looks at whether you share a household, share financial responsibilities, or rely on each other day to day.

Safe Leave

Safe leave is for survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, harassment, stalking, or bias crimes, and for parents of child survivors. You can use it for medical treatment, counseling, legal help, relocation, or other steps to protect your safety.⁸

Applications require at least one supporting document: a safe leave verification form, a police report, a protective order, a formal Title IX complaint, or documentation from a health care professional, attorney, or victim services advocate. If getting documentation would put you at risk, or services aren’t available, you can self-attest with a brief written statement explaining why you need leave.⁸

How Much Time You Can Take

Eligible workers get up to 12 weeks of paid leave per benefit year across any combination of medical, family, and safe leave. If you have limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition (including lactation), you can receive up to two additional weeks, for a total of 14.⁹ Your benefit year starts on the Sunday before your first day of leave.

Leave doesn’t have to be taken in one block. Intermittent leave is allowed, but the minimum increment is one full day. Partial-day absences don’t qualify.³

How Much You’ll Be Paid

Your weekly benefit depends on how your average weekly earnings compare to the state average weekly wage (SAWW). Through June 30, 2026, the SAWW used for benefit calculations is $1,363.80. Three tiers:

If your earnings are at or below 65% of the SAWW (about $886 per week), you receive 100% of your average weekly wage.
If your earnings fall between 65% and 120% of the SAWW, you receive 65% of the SAWW plus 50% of the amount your wages exceed that 65% mark.
If your earnings are above 120% of the SAWW, your benefit caps at 120% of the SAWW, roughly $1,637 per week.

The minimum weekly benefit is 5% of the SAWW, about $68.¹⁰ The SAWW adjusts each year, so these dollar figures shift annually. Paid Leave Oregon publishes an online benefits calculator that estimates your payment from your actual wages.

What It Costs You

The program is funded by payroll contributions split between employees and larger employers. For 2026, the total contribution rate is 1% of gross wages up to $184,500 per employee.¹ Employees pay 60% of that (about 0.6% of wages) and large employers with 25 or more workers pay 40% (about 0.4%). Small employers withhold your share but don’t owe the employer portion.⁴ The total rate can change year to year, but statute caps it at 1%.¹¹

Notice You Have to Give Your Employer

Before taking leave, you must notify your employer, and the rules differ depending on whether the leave is planned or sudden.

For foreseeable leave, give written notice at least 30 days before starting.¹² For unexpected situations like a sudden medical emergency, give oral notice within 24 hours of starting leave and follow up with written notice within three days. Someone else can give the notice for you if you’re unable.¹¹

Skip the notice and the Employment Department can reduce your first weekly benefit payment by up to 25%.¹² A short phone call or text avoids that.

Getting Your Job Back

Paid Leave Oregon protects your job while you’re out, but only after you’ve worked for the same employer for 90 consecutive days.⁹ Once you’re past 90 days, your employer must restore you to the same position or one with equivalent duties, benefits, and pay. If you started leave before day 90 but crossed that mark while out, you’re still entitled to reinstatement when you return. Small employers are bound by the same rule.⁴

Using Paid Leave Oregon With Other Leave

Oregon workers may be covered at once by federal FMLA, Oregon’s Family Leave Act (OFLA), and Paid Leave Oregon. They overlap, but they don’t all run at the same time.

Paid Leave Oregon benefits and OFLA leave generally can’t be used at the same time for the same qualifying event. When both cover your situation, you pick. An employer may provisionally designate an absence as OFLA leave while your Paid Leave Oregon application is pending.¹³ FMLA and OFLA can run concurrently for overlapping events.

A practical difference: Paid Leave Oregon requires full-day absences, while OFLA allows partial-day leave. For shorter absences, OFLA may fit better.¹³

You can also use employer-provided PTO, vacation, or sick leave alongside Paid Leave Oregon benefits. Your employer decides whether you can receive more than your full wage replacement when stacking paid leave with program benefits, and may set the order in which you use accrued leave.³

Taxes on Your Benefits

Paid Leave Oregon benefits are generally subject to federal income tax, and how they’re reported depends on the type of leave. Effective January 1, 2026, IRS Revenue Ruling 2025-4 changed how medical leave benefits are treated. The portion funded by employer contributions is now considered wages, subject to federal income tax and payroll taxes, and reported on a W-2 rather than a 1099-MISC.¹⁴

Family and safe leave are treated differently. The full benefit is reported on a Form 1099, consistent with how the Employment Department has handled the program since benefits began in 2023.¹⁴ The IRS is still developing guidance on some details, including how safe leave is classified and how self-employed medical leave benefits are taxed. Watch for a 1099 or W-2 from the Employment Department each January; a tax professional is worth consulting if you received more than one type of leave in the same year.

On your Oregon return, if you don’t itemize federal deductions, you can reduce the reported benefit income by the amount you personally contributed to the program. If you do itemize, use the subtraction code on the Oregon return.

If You’re Denied or Retaliated Against

Oregon law prohibits employers from firing, demoting, or otherwise retaliating against you for applying for or using Paid Leave Oregon benefits.¹⁵ Remedies can include reinstatement, back pay, and additional damages. File a retaliation complaint with the Bureau of Labor and Industries through its Complaint Resolution Center, or bring a private lawsuit; workers who win in court can recover attorney fees.¹⁶

If your claim is denied or your benefit amount looks wrong, you have 60 calendar days from the date the decision was mailed to request a hearing. Employers have 20 days to appeal contribution or tax decisions.¹⁷ File through your Frances Online account or mail a Request a Hearing form to the Employment Department in Salem. Don’t send appeals to the Office of Administrative Hearings directly; the Employment Department has to process them first. Miss the deadline and the original decision becomes final, so note the “date issued” on your letter and count from there.

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Paid Leave Oregon. Employers – Paid Leave Oregon
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Paid Leave Oregon. What to Expect – Paid Leave Oregon
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Paid Leave Oregon. Common Questions
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Paid Leave Oregon. Small Employers – Paid Leave Oregon
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Paid Leave Oregon. Self-Employed Coverage
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Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 657B.020 – Qualifying Purposes for Benefits; Duration of Benefits
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Oregon State Legislature. Chapter 657B – Family and Medical Leave Insurance
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Paid Leave Oregon. Applying for Safe Leave – Paid Leave Oregon
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State of Oregon. Paid Leave Oregon Protections
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Paid Leave Oregon. Benefits Calculator – Paid Leave Oregon
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Paid Leave Oregon. Employees Overview
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Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 657B.040 – Notice to Employers
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State of Oregon. Oregon Family Leave Act – For Workers
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Oregon State Legislature. OED IRS Ruling Implementation Fact Sheet
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Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 657B.060 – Job Protection; Benefits; Discrimination Prohibited
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State of Oregon. File a Complaint
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Paid Leave Oregon. Appeals – Paid Leave Oregon