Many Oregon workers can look forward to having more paid time off for important life events.
After years of program building and COVID-related delays, Oregon is joining ten other states and the District of Columbia in offering workers paid time off for major life events. That includes paid family leave, medical leave, and safe leave, which means time off to recover from sexual assault, domestic violence, harassment, or stalking. Paid Leave Oregon, which will start taking applications August 14 ahead of its September 3 launch, will allow Oregon workers to take up to 12 weeks of paid time off every year.
Karen Humelbaugh is director of Paid Leave Oregon, a division of the Oregon Employment Department. She said the program means Oregonians don’t have to choose between taking time for key life moments and keeping their jobs.
“So it’s going to take that choice and turn it into an opportunity for people to take care of their families, do what they need to do to remain healthy and safe, and then go back to their job and be able to continue to put into the economy,” said Humelbaugh. She said the program benefits employers as well as employees because it allows them to retain skilled workers.
Paid Leave Oregon is funded like an insurance program: both workers and large employers, meaning companies who employ more than 25 workers pay into a trust fund that workers can request money from when they experience a qualifying life event. Employers and employees started paying in to the program in January, and the state says it is now solvent enough to launch.
For workers who already have paid time off through their job, Humelbaugh said the new statewide program should be the first resource they turn to. Most Oregonians don’t have PTO, and Humelbaugh said the new program helps level the playing field, especially for minimum wage workers, whose jobs are less likely to pay for time off.
While people take time off, the fund pays a portion of the wages they are missing out on. This means people with higher wages pay in more money–and get higher payouts.
The first quarter contributions equal around $217 million, close to predicted. Paid Leave Oregon projects it will receive about 41,000 claims in the initial application period, and on average about 12,000 claims per month after that. Humelbaugh said they expect most claims to be for child bonding time and medical leave.
Any qualified worker who has been at a job for more than 90 days is protected from being fired for using Paid Leave.
More information about Paid Leave Oregon and instructions for how to apply once applications open is at https://paidleave.oregon.gov/.
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