Oregon Passes Paid Sick Leave Law: Employment Law Manual, Chart Updated
Authors: Melissa Burdorf, Marta Moakley and Melissa Silver, XpertHR Legal Editors
On June 22, Oregon passed a paid sick leave law, making it the fourth state to do so behind California, Connecticut and Massachusetts. The law, which takes effect January 1, 2016, requires employers with 10 or more employees to provide up to 40 hours of paid sick leave per year, while employers with fewer than 10 employees must provide up to 40 hours of unpaid sick time. The paid sick leave provisions also apply to employers in large cities (population exceeding 500,000) with six or more employees working anywhere in the state.
Accrued sick leave may be used for the following reasons:
- The employee's or a family member's health condition;
- To care for a newborn child, a newly adopted child or a newly placed foster child;
- Bereavement;
- Donation to a co-worker, if allowed by the employer;
- Reasons related to domestic violence, harassment, sexual assault or stalking; or
- A public health emergency.
The law expressly preempts local governments from enacting and enforcing their own paid sick leave ordinances. Therefore, Eugene's ordinance, which was scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2015, is fully preempted. Employers in Eugene must comply with the statewide paid sick leave law. Portland employers must also comply with the new state law, except the Portland provision requiring employers with at least six employees within Oregon to provide paid leave will remain in effect.
In light of these developments, the Paid Sick Leave by State and Municipality chart and the following Oregon sections of the Employment Law Manual have been updated:
A Legal Timetable entry has also been added.