How Long Is Maternity Leave in Oregon: Pay and Job Protection

Maternity leave in Oregon can run as long as 18 weeks when you combine every program you’re entitled to. Paid Leave Oregon covers up to 12 weeks of paid time off to bond with a new child, and pregnancy or childbirth complications can add two more paid weeks for a total of 14. Layering unpaid job-protected leave under the Oregon Family Leave Act on top of that can extend your time away from work to 16 or 18 weeks in a single benefit year.¹

How the Weeks Add Up

Paid Leave Oregon gives you up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave insurance benefits per benefit year. You can use that time to bond after birth, adoption, or foster placement, to recover from a serious health condition, or for a mix of qualifying reasons.¹

If you have limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition (lactation counts), you qualify for two additional paid weeks. That brings your paid total to 14.¹

You can then combine those paid weeks with unpaid job-protected leave under OFLA. The combined cap is 16 weeks in a benefit year, or 18 weeks if you qualify for the pregnancy-related extension. This alignment came out of 2024’s Senate Bill 1515.²

Your benefit year is a 52-week window that starts the Sunday immediately before your leave begins, and every paid and unpaid entitlement is measured against it.¹ Bonding leave must be used within the first year after your child’s birth or placement. You can take it as one continuous block or intermittently, using individual days for medical appointments or working a reduced schedule.³

What You’ll Be Paid Each Week

Your weekly benefit depends on how your wages compare to Oregon’s statewide average weekly wage. Earn 65 percent or less of that average and you get 100 percent of your average weekly wage. Earn more, and a sliding scale replaces a smaller share of your higher earnings.⁴

The maximum benefit is capped at 120 percent of the state average weekly wage. From July 2025 through June 2026, the state average is $1,363.80, which sets the weekly maximum at $1,636.56 and the minimum at $68.19.⁴ Your benefit is calculated from your base year: the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before your benefit year starts.¹

Paid Leave Oregon runs an online calculator where you can plug in your wages and get an estimate before applying.⁵

You can also use accrued sick leave, vacation, or other employer PTO at the same time you receive Paid Leave Oregon benefits. Your employer decides whether the combination can exceed your full wage and, absent a collective bargaining agreement that says otherwise, can pick the order the PTO is drawn down.⁶

Keeping Your Job While You’re Out

Paid Leave Oregon delivers a check. Job protection is a separate question governed by two other laws.

Federal FMLA

The Family and Medical Leave Act provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for the birth or placement of a child, among other reasons. Your employer must keep your group health insurance in place on the same terms as if you were still working.⁷ When you qualify for both FMLA and Paid Leave Oregon, the 12-week FMLA clock runs at the same time as your paid benefits. You do not get an extra 12 unpaid weeks bolted on.

Oregon Family Leave Act

After SB 1515, OFLA covers pregnancy disability leave, sick child leave, and bereavement leave. Bonding leave moved fully into Paid Leave Oregon.⁸ For a pregnancy, the piece that matters most is pregnancy disability leave: up to 12 weeks of additional job-protected time for limitations caused by pregnancy or childbirth. That entitlement sits apart from OFLA’s standard 12-week allowance for sick child and bereavement leave, so an eligible employee can use both in the same leave year.⁹ Your employer must continue your group health coverage during OFLA leave, though you may still owe your share of the premium.

If Your Employer Has Fewer Than 25 Workers

OFLA doesn’t cover small employers, but Paid Leave Oregon still requires them to hold your job. If you’ve worked for the employer for more than 90 consecutive days, they must return you to the same role, or a comparable one at the same pay and with the same benefits, when your paid leave ends.¹⁰

Who Qualifies for Each Program

You may be eligible for one, two, or all three. The criteria are different for each.

Paid Leave Oregon

You need at least $1,000 in wages during your base year.⁶ There’s no minimum employer size and no minimum hours-per-week rule, which keeps part-time and seasonal workers in the program.

FMLA

Three conditions have to be met: your employer has 50 or more employees within 75 miles of your worksite, you’ve been employed there for at least 12 months, and you’ve worked at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months before leave starts.¹¹

OFLA

OFLA covers employers with 25 or more employees. You qualify if you’ve worked for your employer at least 180 days and averaged at least 25 hours per week during that time.⁸

How to Apply

Notify Your Employer First

For foreseeable leave, like an expected birth or a planned adoption, give your employer oral notice at least 30 calendar days before leave starts. Your employer can require that notice be in writing.¹²

If leave is unexpected (an early delivery, for example), tell your employer within 24 hours of starting leave and follow up in writing within three days. Skip the written notice and Paid Leave Oregon may cut your first weekly payment by 25 percent.¹³

File Your Claim

Claims go through Frances Online, the Oregon Employment Department’s portal. You’ll create an account, verify your identity (the department may mail a letter or send a one-time passcode), then select “File a Paid Leave Oregon Claim.” You can also file by phone at 833-854-0166.¹⁴

Paid Leave Oregon publishes checklists for each leave type. For maternity leave, expect to upload a Verification of Birth Form, or a Verification of Serious Health Condition Form if pregnancy-related medical complications are involved. You’ll choose between direct deposit and a prepaid debit card for payments.¹⁵

If Your Claim Is Denied

You have 60 calendar days from the date of the decision to appeal. Before filing a formal appeal, it’s worth contacting Paid Leave Oregon through secure messaging in Frances Online or at 833-854-0166. If the denial was based on incorrect or missing information, the decision can sometimes be reconsidered without an appeal.¹⁶

Appeals must be in writing and can be submitted through Frances Online, by mail, by email, or in person at any Oregon Employment Department office. When counting the 60 days, don’t include the day the decision was issued. If the deadline lands on a weekend or holiday, it extends to the next business day.¹⁷ If a genuine reason kept you from filing on time, such as a medical emergency, the Office of Administrative Hearings will review the late appeal to decide whether the delay was justified.¹⁶

1
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 657B
2
Oregon State Legislature. Senate Bill 1515 – Introduced
3
Paid Leave Oregon. Employees Overview
4
Oregon Employment Department. Minimum and Maximum Weekly Benefit Amounts
5
Paid Leave Oregon. Benefits Estimate Calculator
6
Paid Leave Oregon. Common Questions
7
U.S. Department of Labor. Family and Medical Leave (FMLA)
8
State of Oregon. Oregon Family Leave Act
9
Oregon Secretary of State. Oregon Administrative Rules 839-009-0240
10
Paid Leave Oregon. Small Employers
11
eCFR. 29 CFR 825.110 – Eligible Employee
12
Oregon Secretary of State. Oregon Administrative Rules 471-070-1310
13
Paid Leave Oregon. Applying for Family Leave
14
State of Oregon. Frances Online Instructions for Paid Leave Claimants
15
Paid Leave Oregon. Forms and Checklists
16
Paid Leave Oregon. Appeals
17
Legal Information Institute. Oregon Administrative Code 471-070-8005 – Appeals: Request for Hearing