Oregon — Leave Laws

Oregon requires all employers with at least one employee working in the state to provide sick time under ORS 653.601–653.661. Whether that time must be paid depends on employer size, determined by averaging the per-day employee count over at least 20 workweeks in the preceding year. Employers with 10 or more employees statewide must provide paid sick time. Employers with a location in a city exceeding 500,000 population (Portland) and 6 or more employees statewide must provide paid sick time. Smaller employers must provide the same amount of sick time, but it may be unpaid. The federal government is excluded.

Source: ORS 653.606

Employees accrue at least one hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked (or 1⅓ hours for every 40 hours worked). Employers may cap accrual at 40 hours per year and may limit total accrued sick time to 80 hours. Employers may also limit use to 40 hours per year. Exempt employees under FLSA 29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(1) are presumed to work 40 hours per week for accrual purposes unless their actual workweek is shorter.

Source: ORS 653.606

As of the 2025 amendments, Oregon law specifies nine categories of permitted uses for accrued sick time under ORS 653.616. Employers must allow employees to use sick time for any of these reasons and may not impose additional restrictions on the statutory purposes.

1. Employee's own health needs. An employee may use sick time for the employee's mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; or preventive medical care.

2. Family member care. Sick time may be used to care for a family member with a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; care of a family member who needs medical diagnosis, care, or treatment; or preventive medical care. "Family member" follows ORS 659A.150, including a broad range of relatives and those whose close association is the equivalent of a family relationship.

3. Oregon Family Leave Act purposes. ORS 653.616(3) allows sick time for "any purpose specified in ORS 659A.159," incorporating the Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA) purposes such as child home care due to school or child care closure, bereavement, caring for a sick child, and bonding with a new child, even if the employee does not meet full OFLA eligibility under ORS 659A.153.

4. Safe leave for victims. Time can be used for safe leave as specified in ORS 659A.272 — e.g., seeking legal or law enforcement help, medical treatment or recovery related to domestic violence, sexual assault, harassment, stalking, or bias crime, counseling, victim services, or securing housing safety, even if not otherwise eligible under ORS 659A.270(1).

5. Exclusion from workplace for health reasons. Use is allowed if law or rule requires employer to exclude the employee from the workplace for health reasons (e.g., communicable disease protocols).

6. Donation to another employee. If employer policy allows, accrued sick time may be donated to a coworker for use under any permitted purpose listed here.

7. Public health emergency. Sick time may be used during a declared public health emergency.

8. Blood donation. Time for blood donation in connection with a program accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks or Red Cross is expressly permitted.

9. Paid Leave Oregon purposes. As of 2025, ORS 653.616(5) allows employees to use sick time "for a purpose specified in ORS 657B.020." ORS 657B.020 covers Paid Leave Oregon's qualifying purposes: family leave, medical leave, safe leave, and up to two extra weeks for pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions (including lactation and recovery). This cross-reference allows sick time use for any purpose that would entitle an employee to Paid Leave Oregon benefits.

The "notwithstanding" language in subsections (3), (4), and now (5) provides that OFLA, safe leave, and Paid Leave Oregon purposes are available under the sick time law even if the employee would not independently qualify under those separate statutes. Thus, sick time serves as a floor for these leave types.

Source: ORS 653.616 Source: ORS 657B.020

Oregon employees begin accruing sick time on their first day of employment, but state law sets a clear waiting period before they may use any accrued hours. Under ORS 653.606(5)(a), employers are required to allow employees to use accrued sick time no later than the 91st calendar day of employment. In other words, for the first 90 days, employees accrue sick time but do not have a guaranteed statutory right to take it. The law does allow flexibility for employers: ORS 653.606(5)(b) lets the employer choose to permit the use of some or all accrued sick time earlier than day 91, but this is discretionary—not something the employee can demand by right.

Summary:

• Accrual of sick time starts immediately upon hire.
• Use of accrued sick time is not required by law until the 91st calendar day of employment.
• Employers may allow use of sick time earlier, but are not required to do so under state law.

This structure means that a newly hired employee will typically need to wait 90 days before using any accrued sick time unless their employer waives the waiting period as a matter of policy or practice. The Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries’ Sick Time FAQ confirms this structure and reiterates that employer-provided waivers of the waiting period are discretionary, not required.

Source: ORS 653.606(5) Source: Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries Sick Time FAQ

Oregon law creates a restoration obligation for accrued but unused sick time when a separated employee is rehired by the same employer within a defined timeframe.

180-Day Rehire Window Under ORS 653.606(11)(a), if an employee separates from employment and is rehired by the same employer within 180 days, the employer must restore any accrued unused sick time that remained at the time of separation. Accrual resumes, and the balance is not forfeited because of the break in service. This rule applies regardless of the reason for the original separation (quit, discharge, layoff, or other).

No Restoration After 180 Days If more than 180 days elapse between separation and rehire, the statute does not require restoring the previous balance. Unused sick time may be forfeited or lost, and the employee's accrual restarts with reemployment. ORS 653.606(7) further clarifies that separation itself does not trigger a payout (“Nothing ... requires an employer to compensate an employee for accrued unused sick time upon the employee's separation”).

Special Rule: Employment Short of 90 Days If an employee is separated before reaching 91 total calendar days of employment (pre- and post-separation days combined, as required by the statute's phrase “combined total of days of employment”), and is then rehired within 180 days, the employer must restore the sick-time balance, but the employee cannot use the accrued sick time until the combined total days of employment exceed 90. See ORS 653.606(11)(b).

Practical Application This mechanism prevents an employer from escaping sick-time obligations by cycling employees out of payroll and then rehiring them soon after. Employers should track breaks in service and existing sick-time balances so that eligibility upon rehire is properly managed within the 180-day window.

Source: ORS 653.606(11) Source: ORS 653.606(7)

Oregon’s sick time law under ORS 653.601–653.661 narrowly defines who counts as a covered "employee"—and some categories of workers are expressly excluded from its protections. If a worker falls into any of these statutory exclusions, the employer owes no state sick time accrual, use, or notice obligations for that individual.

Major categories excluded under ORS 653.601(1)(c):

• Independent contractors. The law incorporates Oregon’s test for true independent contractor status, which is codified at ORS 670.600—not just any worker paid via 1099.
• Individuals employed by their parent, spouse, or child. Family employment in these specific relationships is not covered.
• Participants in work training programs. Specifically, those in a work training program administered under state or federal assistance—not all training scenarios.
• Participants in a work-study program. Federal- or state-approved work-study participants are excluded from coverage.
• Railroad workers. Individuals employed as railroad workers (as defined under 45 U.S.C. 351(d), relating to the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act) are not covered.

Additional exclusions in ORS 653.601:

• Employees subject to a collective bargaining agreement in effect as of June 29, 2015 who receives at least as much paid time off as the law requires (see ORS 653.601(6)).

These exclusions are also summarized by the Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries (BOLI), which lists in its public guidance: independent contractors, work-study participants, some work-training participants, certain railroad workers, and family employment as non-covered categories. Practices should check the statute for rare exceptions or edge scenarios outside this common list.

Source: ORS 653.601 Source: Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries: Sick Time