The Oregon legislature has handed SB 1515, which makes main modifications to the Oregon Household Depart Act (OFLA), and minor modifications to Paid Depart Oregon (PLO), in an effort to get rid of the overlap between the 2 go away legal guidelines. The governor is anticipated to signal the invoice. Most leaves which might be presently lined by each OFLA and PLO will not be lined by OFLA, concurrent use of OFLA and PLO will not be allowed, and there’ll not be a mixed OFLA-PLO cap on go away utilization. Besides as famous beneath, these modifications take impact on July 1, 2024.
OFLA will solely cowl:
- Sick Baby Depart: To care for a kid (beneath 18 or disabled) of the worker who’s affected by an sickness, damage, or situation that requires house care, or who requires house care as a result of closure of the kid’s faculty or youngster care supplier because of a public well being emergency. Notice that beneath this new invoice, sick youngster go away covers all diseases requiring house care, no matter whether or not they’re critical well being circumstances. This go away counts towards the fundamental 12 weeks of go away accessible beneath OFLA.
- Bereavement Depart: Continues to permit as much as 2 weeks of go away as a result of demise of an worker’s member of the family. The invoice caps whole bereavement go away at 4 weeks per one-year interval. This go away counts towards the fundamental 12 weeks of go away accessible beneath OFLA.
- Being pregnant Incapacity Depart: Continues to permit an worker as much as 12 weeks of OFLA go away for being pregnant incapacity (together with restoration from childbirth), along with the fundamental 12 weeks of go away accessible beneath OFLA.
- Foster Care and Adoption: An extra 2 weeks of go away for the authorized course of required for placement of a foster youngster or the adoption of a kid. (That is short-term from July 1, 2024, by way of December 31, 2024. Starting on January 1, 2025, go away for these functions shall be included within the Household Depart provisions of PLO.)
PLO will proceed to cowl:
- Household Depart: To take care of a member of the family with a critical well being situation, or for bonding with a new child or newly positioned youngster. Efficient January 1, 2025, this additionally contains day without work for the authorized course of required for placement of a foster youngster or the adoption of a kid.
- Medical Depart: For the worker’s personal critical well being situation. This continues to incorporate an worker’s being pregnant incapacity, however PLO and OFLA go away for being pregnant incapacity can’t run on the similar time. A pregnant worker who needs to maximise their accessible go away subsequently might take 2 weeks of PLO for being pregnant incapacity, plus as much as 12 weeks of unpaid being pregnant incapacity go away beneath OFLA (relying on the size of time licensed by their well being care supplier), adopted by 12 weeks of PLO household go away to bond with the new child youngster.
- Protected Depart: For causes because of sexual assault, home violence, harassment, bias crimes, or stalking.
Adjustments to PLO:
- Use of accrued employer-paid day without work: Staff shall be entitled to make use of any accrued day without work to high off their PLO advantages to 100% of wages, and employers might allow workers to make use of their accrued paid go away to exceed their common wages. The employer has the correct to find out the order through which accrued go away is used.
- Size of go away: Retains the 12-week whole for PLO with an extra 2 weeks attainable for pregnancy-related incapacity, capping the entire quantity of PLO at 14 weeks per profit 12 months.
The invoice additionally grants an exception to among the predictive scheduling necessities for giant employers within the retail, hospitality, and meals companies industries. If an worker provides their employer lower than 14 days’ discover earlier than the primary day of the work schedule of the necessity for OFLA or PLO go away, or that they’re getting back from OFLA or PLO go away, the employer doesn’t should pay additional compensation beneath Oregon’s predictive scheduling legislation to any quickly assigned workers who’re overlaying that particular person’s shifts.
Ideas: These modifications ought to in the end simplify go away administration for Oregon employers and streamline the go away course of for workers, however the transition will create some surprises. You must plan on notifying workers of the modifications because the July 1 efficient date attracts close to.
One vital sensible change beneath this new invoice is that workers taking partial days of go away for a non-pregnancy critical well being situation gained’t have protections beneath both OFLA or PLO, as a result of non-pregnancy critical well being circumstances will solely be lined by PLO, and PLO can solely be taken in full-day increments. The one protections for these partial-day absences shall be beneath the Oregon sick go away legislation, the federal Household and Medical Depart Act (FMLA), and probably as an affordable lodging beneath the People with Disabilities Act (ADA) for day without work because of an worker’s incapacity.
As of July 1, 2024, workers who’re on OFLA go away for a non-pregnancy critical well being situation or for parental go away (bonding with a new child or newly positioned youngster) will not be eligible for a majority of these go away beneath OFLA. You must talk the change prematurely and, the place relevant, advise workers to use for PLO in a well timed method in order that their go away isn’t impacted. The invoice doesn’t create a brand new go away 12 months, or require you to disregard OFLA go away that workers have already taken, regardless that the rationale for go away is not lined beneath the brand new legislation.
The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) shall be issuing rules to make clear the brand new legislation. Vigilant shall be updating our Mannequin Insurance policies: Oregon Household Depart Act Coverage, Oregon: Paid Depart Oregon Coverage; our Mannequin Varieties: OFLA: Depart Designation Letter, and OFLA: Eligibility Discover; and our Authorized Guides: Federal and Oregon Household Depart Comparability Chart, and Oregon: Paid Depart Oregon. Contact your Vigilant Legislation Group employment legal professional with questions, however we strongly suggest that you simply wait to replace your polices till after BOLI has issued its rules to keep away from the potential of getting to make an extra spherical of modifications.
