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 eradicate the overlap between the 2 go away legal guidelines. The governor is predicted to signal the invoice. Most leaves which might be presently coated by each OFLA and PLO will not be coated 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 under, these modifications take impact on July 1, 2024.
OFLA will solely cowl:
- Sick Little one Depart: To care for a kid (beneath 18 or disabled) of the worker who’s affected by an sickness, harm, or situation that requires house care, or who requires house care because of the closure of the kid’s college or youngster care supplier because of a public well being emergency. Word that beneath this new invoice, sick youngster go away covers all sicknesses requiring house care, no matter whether or not they’re critical well being situations. This go away counts towards the essential 12 weeks of go away obtainable beneath OFLA.
- Bereavement Depart: Continues to permit as much as 2 weeks of go away because of the demise of an worker’s member of the family. The invoice caps complete bereavement go away at 4 weeks per one-year interval. This go away counts towards the essential 12 weeks of go away obtainable 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 essential 12 weeks of go away obtainable beneath OFLA.
- Foster Care and Adoption: A further 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 non permanent from July 1, 2024, by December 31, 2024. Starting on January 1, 2025, go away for these functions can be included within the Household Depart provisions of PLO.)
PLO will proceed to cowl:
- Household Depart: To look after 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 off 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 not run on the identical time. A pregnant worker who desires to maximise their obtainable go away subsequently may 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 off: Workers can be entitled to make use of any accrued day off to prime off their PLO advantages to 100% of wages, and employers could allow workers to make use of their accrued paid go away to exceed their common wages. The employer has the fitting to find out the order wherein accrued go away is used.
- Size of go away: Retains the 12-week complete for PLO with an extra 2 weeks attainable for pregnancy-related incapacity, capping the whole 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 providers industries. If an worker offers 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 must pay additional compensation beneath Oregon’s predictive scheduling regulation to any briefly assigned workers who’re protecting that individual’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 important sensible change beneath this new invoice is that workers taking partial days of go away for a non-pregnancy critical well being situation received’t have protections beneath both OFLA or PLO, as a result of non-pregnancy critical well being situations will solely be coated by PLO, and PLO can solely be taken in full-day increments. The one protections for these partial-day absences can be beneath the Oregon sick go away regulation, the federal Household and Medical Depart Act (FMLA), and probably as an inexpensive lodging beneath the Individuals with Disabilities Act (ADA) for day off 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 all these go away beneath OFLA. You must talk the change upfront 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 explanation for go away is not coated beneath the brand new regulation.
The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) can be issuing rules to make clear the brand new regulation. Vigilant can be updating our Mannequin Insurance policies: Oregon Household Depart Act Coverage, Oregon: Paid Depart Oregon Coverage; our Mannequin Kinds: 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 lawyer with questions, however we strongly advocate 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.