Frances Online in Oregon: Unemployment and Paid Leave Claims

Frances Online is Oregon’s single portal, at frances.oregon.gov, for applying to and managing both Unemployment Insurance and Paid Leave Oregon benefits from one login. You use it to submit your initial claim, file weekly claims, set up direct deposit, message the Employment Department, view payment history, and download your 1099-G. Employers use the same site to file payroll tax reports, but the rest of this guide is written for workers filing a claim.

What the Portal Covers

Two separate benefit programs live inside the same account. Unemployment Insurance, under Chapter 657 of the Oregon Revised Statutes, pays weekly benefits to workers who lose a job through no fault of their own, including layoffs and significant hour reductions.¹²³

The programs are funded differently and have separate eligibility rules, but the account and the workflow are the same.

What to Have Ready Before You Apply

For an unemployment claim, pull together the following before you start:

Your name, Social Security number, date of birth, and current contact information. Non-citizens and non-COFA Islanders can use a USCIS number, A-number, or I-94 number in place of an SSN.
Work history for the past 18 months: employer names, addresses, phone numbers, and the start and end dates for each job.
Bank account and routing numbers, if you want direct deposit. This is optional.

Errors in employer names or dates are one of the most common reasons a claim stalls.⁴

To collect UI benefits for any given week, you must be able to work, available for work, and actively seeking suitable work, and you must have earned enough wages in your base year to qualify. Leaving your normal labor market area for most of a week creates a presumption you were unavailable unless you can show you searched in the area you traveled to. Oregon also imposes a one-week waiting period: your first claimed week counts as the waiting week and is not paid.⁵

Creating an Account and Submitting Your Claim

Go to frances.oregon.gov, set a password, and pick your security questions. Once you’re in, start a new benefit application and enter your personal information and work history. The form walks you through each section and shows you a review screen before you submit. You’ll get a confirmation you can save for your records. The Employment Department then compares what you entered against wage records reported by your employers to verify your history and calculate what you may be paid.⁶

Identity Verification and How Long It Takes

Oregon verifies identity before releasing benefits. You may be asked to request a Frances Access Letter, which is mailed to you and contains a one-time passcode you enter back into the portal. In some cases the department verifies identity through additional digital methods.⁷ Make sure the mailing address on your account is one you actually check, and update it as soon as you move.⁸

Most initial claims take about three weeks to review. When the department decides, you’ll get a Wage and Potential Benefit Report showing the wages your employers reported, your weekly benefit amount, and your maximum total benefit.⁶ Check your Frances Online Message Center and your U.S. mail every day during this window. If more information is needed, that’s how you’ll be contacted.⁹

Filing Weekly Claims

Submitting the initial application does not start payments. You have to file a separate weekly claim for every week you want to be paid, and you should keep filing while your initial application is still pending. If you skip weeks and are later found eligible, those weeks may be lost for good.¹⁰

The weekly filing window opens at 11:59 p.m. Saturday and closes at midnight Sunday. File online in Frances Online, by phone at 800-982-8920 (available 24/7), or by mail on paper Form 127 if the other options don’t work for you.¹⁰

Work Search

Each week you claim, you must complete at least five work search activities, and at least two of those must be direct contacts with a specific employer about a specific job. On your weekly claim, be ready to give the employer’s name, the job title, the location, the date you made contact, how you made contact, and the result. The other activities can include submitting applications, attending interviews, working with a WorkSource Oregon center, updating your resume, or reviewing job listings. Keep your records. If the department audits you, an entry like “looked online” won’t survive review.¹⁰

How Benefits Are Calculated

For unemployment, your weekly benefit is 1.25% of your total base year wages. The base year is normally the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before your claim; if you don’t qualify that way, the department uses an alternate base year of the four most recently completed quarters.⁶ The minimum weekly benefit is set at 15% of the state average weekly covered wage and the maximum at 64%, both of which adjust each year around early July.¹¹

Paid Leave uses a different formula tied to the statewide average weekly wage. If your average weekly wage is 65% or less of the state average, you receive 100% of your wages. Above that threshold, you receive 100% of the portion up to 65% of the state average and 50% of anything above it. For 2026, the maximum weekly benefit is $1,692.16.¹²

How You Get Paid

Benefits go out either by direct deposit or on a U.S. Bank ReliaCard prepaid Visa. You can set up direct deposit inside Frances Online with your routing and account numbers, though the bank verification step takes up to two weeks. Don’t submit the request twice; a duplicate restarts verification and delays your payment.¹³

Even if you pick direct deposit, you’ll be asked to read or listen to the prepaid card disclosures, because the ReliaCard is your backup if a deposit fails. The card arrives in a white windowed envelope, so watch for it and keep it. If you lose the card or it gets frozen, call U.S. Bank directly at 855-282-6161. The Employment Department cannot unfreeze a ReliaCard.¹³

Taxes and Your 1099-G

Both UI and Paid Leave benefits are taxable income. When you apply, you can elect to have 10% withheld for federal income taxes and 6% withheld for state income taxes. Both are optional, and you can change them at any time in Frances Online. Each January, your 1099-G is available in the portal and also mailed to you.¹⁴

If You Disagree With a Decision

Deadlines are short and different depending on the type of decision. Administrative decisions on eligibility, disqualification, and similar issues become final 20 calendar days after the department mails them. Monetary decisions on your weekly benefit amount and base year wages become final after 10 calendar days. Miss those and you can lose the right to a hearing.¹⁵

An appeal moves through four stages: the Employment Department’s initial decision; a telephone hearing before an administrative law judge at the Office of Administrative Hearings; review by the Employment Appeals Board on the existing record; and judicial review at the Oregon Court of Appeals, which requires a petition and a filing fee (or a fee waiver). Most cases are resolved at the hearing level. Request a hearing through Frances Online or contact the Employment Appeals Board at 503-378-2077.¹⁶

Overpayments and Fraud

If the department decides you received benefits you weren’t entitled to, you have to repay them. Overpayments happen for a range of reasons, including reporting errors and retroactive employer disputes, so a notice does not by itself mean wrongdoing.

Fraud is treated separately. Intentional misrepresentation to obtain benefits carries a penalty of 15% to 30% of the overpaid amount on top of repaying the benefits. Interest accrues at 1% per month starting 60 days after the overpayment decision becomes final, and fraud-related debts have no time limit for collection. Anything you pay back is applied first to court costs, then penalties, then interest, and last to the benefit amount itself, so the underlying debt shrinks slowest.¹⁷

Self-Employed and Paid Leave Oregon

Self-employed Oregonians aren’t automatically covered by Paid Leave Oregon, but you can opt in through Frances Online. You need to have earned at least $1,000 in Oregon net self-employment income (after expenses) in the prior tax year, and choosing to participate commits you to at least three years of contributions. The 2025–2026 rate is 0.6% of your Oregon net self-employment income, up to a maximum income of $184,500, paid quarterly through Frances Online or by mail. Have your most recent federal and state personal income tax returns ready when you enroll.¹⁸

A Note for Employers

Frances Online is also where Oregon employers file quarterly combined payroll tax reports (Form OQ) and pay UI and Paid Leave contributions. If you’re an employer looking for filing deadlines and instructions, the Department of Revenue’s combined payroll tax instructions cover the schedule and the rules that apply when a due date falls on a weekend or holiday.¹⁹

1
Oregon Employment Department. Unemployment Insurance Laws and Rules
2
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 657B – Family and Medical Leave Insurance
3
Paid Leave Oregon. Paid Leave Oregon Home
4
Oregon Employment Department. How to Apply for Unemployment Insurance Benefits
5
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 657.155 – Benefit Eligibility Conditions
6
Oregon Employment Department. What Happens After I File?
7
State of Oregon. Frances Resources Frequently Asked Questions
8
Oregon Employment Department. How to Verify Your Frances Online Account
9
Oregon Employment Department. Status Messages
10
Oregon Employment Department. Weekly Claims
11
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 657 – Unemployment Insurance
12
State of Oregon. Minimum and Maximum Weekly Benefit Amounts
13
Oregon Employment Department. Payment Options
14
Oregon Employment Department. 1099-G
15
Oregon Employment Department. Appeals Process
16
State of Oregon. Oregon Employment Appeals Board
17
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 657.310 – Repayment or Deduction of Benefits
18
Paid Leave Oregon. Self-Employed and Independent Contractors
19
Oregon Department of Revenue. 2026 Oregon Combined Payroll Tax Report Instructions