Information from Oregon Employment Department
Paid Leave Oregon Rulemaking Notice
August 1, 2024
Official Notice of Permanent Administrative Order
Dear Interested Parties:
Paid Leave Oregon allows employees in Oregon to take paid time off for some of life’s most important moments that impact our families, health, and safety.
You are receiving this email notification because you asked us to let you know about the Oregon Employment Department’s rulemaking activities.
Website notice information
On July 30, 2024, Paid Leave Oregon filed Permanent Administrative Orders for 20 administrative rules relating to appeals, assistance grants, benefits, and equivalent plans with the Secretary of State’s Office. The effective date of these rules is August 1, 2024.
You can find the permanent rules on the Secretary of State’s website, and on our rulemaking website. You can find a summary of the adopted and amended administrative rules in the table below. We’re also including a link to the Batch 11 permanent administrative order.
Public hearings
Paid Leave Oregon held two public rulemaking hearings during the month of June 2024 to receive feedback on the proposed administrative rules. There were 79 attendees at the first rulemaking hearing held Thursday, June 20, 2024 and 15 attendees at the second rulemaking hearing held Monday, June 24, 2024.
We sent an email to more than 150,000 people on June 3, 2024, to notify interested parties that we filed a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking with the Secretary of State’s Office on May 29, 2024. Oregon legislators also received the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
The department received written testimony from three people and organizations who emailed the rules@employ.oregon.gov during the formal public comment period, which was open from June 1 through June 30, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. PST. You can find a summary of the hearings and written testimony in the Hearings Officer Report.
Questions?
We understand the rulemaking process may be complex or confusing. We are here to help! Please contact us if:
· You need help understanding the process
· You don’t understand what the rules are saying
· You want to attend a future meeting to provide feedback
· You need accommodations to participate in a future meeting
You can contact Paid Leave Oregon at paidleave@oregon.gov, or you can contact our rules coordinator at Rules@employ.oregon.gov, and we will do our best to help. We are happy to answer any questions.
Stay informed
Visit our website, and sign up to receive Paid Leave Oregon updates.
If you no longer want to receive email notices about the Employment Department’s rulemaking activities, you may unsubscribe from our mailing list.
Summary of Adopted and Amended Administrative Rules
OAR 471-070-1000 – Benefits: Definitions –This administrative rule is being amended to align with changes to health care provider titles made by HB 4010 and HB 4130 during the 2024 legislative session, and to update the definitions for ‘Workday’ and ‘Work week’ to align with 471-070-1040, which provides clarity regarding the calculations of these work periods.
OAR 471-070-1010 – Benefits: Eligibility and Qualifications for Benefits – This administrative rule is being amended to align with statutory changes made by SB 1515 (2024), specifying that employees eligible for worker’s compensation time loss benefits are disqualified from receiving Paid Leave benefits.
OAR 471-070-1040 – Benefits: Calculation of Days and Weeks Worked – This administrative rule explains the process for determining the correct number of work days worked in a work week for the purposes of Paid Leave Oregon benefits calculations.
OAR 471-070-1100 – Benefits: Application for Benefits – This administrative rule is being amended to align with changes made by SB 1515 (2024), clarifying that employees must provide information about their eligibility to receive workers’ compensation time loss benefits.
OAR 471-070-1110 – Benefits: Verification of Family Leave to Care for and Bond with a Child– This administrative rule is being amended to clarify the allowable documents and information needed to verify Paid Leave Oregon claims for leave to care for and bond with a child in the first year after birth, or after placement through adoption, or foster care.
OAR 471-070-1120 – Benefits: Verification of a Serious Health Condition – This administrative rule is being amended to clarify the allowable documents and information needed to verify Paid Leave Oregon medical or family leave claims involving a serious health condition.
OAR 471-070-1130 – Benefits: Verification of Safe Leave – This administrative rule is being amended to clarify the allowable documents and information needed to verify Paid Leave Oregon safe leave claims.
OAR 471-070-1205 – Benefits: Weekly Claims – This administrative rule is being amended to align with changes made by SB 1515 (2024), clarifying that employees must include information in their weekly claims regarding their eligibility to receive workers’ compensation time loss benefits.
OAR 471-070-1210 – Benefits: Updates to a Claim for Leave – This administrative rule is being amended to align with changes made by SB 1515 (2024), clarifying that employees must include information about their eligibility to receive workers’ compensation time loss benefits, when they update a claim for leave.
OAR 471-070-1250 – Benefits: Claimant Designated Representative and Representation of Incapacitated Claimants – This administrative rule is being amended to include the process for recognizing representatives for incapacitated claimants who do not have a claimant designated representative, as well as for individuals who have a power-of-attorney granted by a claimant or are the court-appointed legal guardian or conservator for a claimant.
OAR 471-070-1470 – Benefits: Benefit Payment Offsets, Withholdings and Reductions – This administrative rule is being amended to align with changes made by SB 1515 (2024), clarifying that Paid Leave benefit offsets from garnishment can only be applied for child and spousal support and restitution for crime victims and describing the order these garnishments are applied in.
OAR 471-070-1510 – Benefits: Repayment of Overpaid Benefits; Interest – This administrative rule is being amended to align with changes made under SB 912 from the 2023 legislative session allowing Paid Leave Oregon to secure the repayment of an overpayment through offsets against state tax refunds.
OAR 471-070-1550 – Benefits: Penalties for Employer Misrepresentation – This administrative rule is being amended to clarify that employer penalties for willful misrepresentation will be related to all employee claims, and not just the claims of eligible employees.
OAR 471-070-1560 – Benefits: Disqualification and Penalties for Claimant Misrepresentation – This administrative rule is being amended to align with changes made under SB 912 (2023) specifying that claimants are liable for interest after making a willful false statement or willfully failing to report a material fact to obtain benefits.
OAR 471-070-2210 – Equivalent Plans: Application Requirements and Effective Date – This administrative rule is being amended to clarify the anniversary date of equivalent plans with an effective date of September 3, 2023.
OAR 471-070-2220 – Equivalent Plans: Plan Requirements – This administrative rule is being amended to clarify that the written notice poster, which is required of all equivalent plan employers, must be provided to all employees, regardless of their eligibility for benefits.
OAR 471-070-3710 – Assistance Grants: Application Requirements – This administrative rule outlines the application requirements for small employers seeking assistance grants and is being amended to clarify the requirements for an individual to qualify as a temporary worker for the purpose of an assistance grant.
OAR 471-070-3730 – Assistance Grants: Grant Amounts – This administrative rule, which explains the amounts provided under approved Paid Leave assistance grants, is being amended to replace the term “replacement worker” with “temporary worker,” to align with statute and with changes to OAR 471-070-3710.
OAR 471-070-8005 – Appeals: Request for Hearing – This administrative rule is being amended to note a change in the final date to appeal a department decision. When a decision’s finality date occurs on a weekend or holiday, that date will be extended to the next business day.
OAR 471-070-8520 – One-Percent Penalty– This administrative rule is being amended to clarify that the department will use the contested case process outlined in Paid Leave Oregon program’s rules rather than the model rules for contested cases in OAR chapter 137, division 3.
