How to Apply for the Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA)

To apply for leave under the Oregon Family Leave Act, tell your employer you need time off and why, either verbally or in writing, giving up to 30 days’ advance notice for foreseeable leave or notice within 24 hours for an emergency. You do not have to ask for “OFLA leave” by name; your employer is responsible for designating qualifying time off. Getting the eligibility, timing, and documentation right is what turns a request into approved, job-protected leave.

Confirm You and Your Employer Are Covered

OFLA has two eligibility tests, and both must be met before you apply.

Your employer must have at least 25 employees in Oregon. Smaller employers are not covered, no matter how long you have worked there.

On your side, you need to have worked for the employer for at least 180 days and averaged at least 25 hours per week over that period immediately before leave starts.¹ Military family leave has a lower threshold: 20 hours per week on average.

Check That Your Reason Still Qualifies Under OFLA

Oregon narrowed OFLA effective July 1, 2024. Several reasons that used to fall under OFLA, including your own serious health condition and bonding with a new child, now go through Paid Leave Oregon instead. If you request OFLA for one of those reasons, your employer will point you to the other program.

What OFLA still covers:

Sick child leave. Caring for your child with an illness, injury, or condition requiring home care. This covers both serious and non-serious conditions and includes school or daycare closure due to a public health emergency. The child must be under 18, or an adult dependent child substantially limited by a physical or mental impairment.¹
Bereavement leave. Up to two weeks per family member, capped at four weeks total per leave year, used within 60 days of learning of the death. “Family member” is defined broadly and reaches spouses and domestic partners, children, parents, siblings, stepsiblings, grandparents, grandchildren, in-laws of those relatives, and anyone related by blood or close association who is essentially the equivalent of family.²¹
Pregnancy disability leave. Up to 12 weeks if you are incapacitated by pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition. It can be taken before or after delivery and includes prenatal appointments.
Military family leave. Up to 14 days per deployment when a spouse or domestic partner is called to active duty or notified of an impending deployment.

The standard OFLA entitlement is 12 weeks of leave per leave year. Pregnancy disability leave is a separate 12-week bank, so a pregnant employee who also needs sick child leave could potentially use up to 24 weeks in a single year.² The leave itself is unpaid, though you can use accrued vacation, PTO, or sick time to keep a paycheck coming.

Give Notice the Right Way

How much notice you owe depends on whether the leave is foreseeable.

Foreseeable Leave

For planned events, such as a scheduled surgery or an upcoming deployment, your employer can require up to 30 days’ written notice before the leave starts.³ Include the reason you need leave and your expected start and end dates. You are not required to label the request “OFLA.”

Unexpected Leave

For emergencies, oral or written notice is due within 24 hours of the leave starting. Someone else can give that notice for you if you cannot. Your employer may also require you to submit written notice within three days of returning to work.³

Put It in Writing Even When You Don’t Have To

Verbal notice meets the legal minimum, but a written request creates a record that protects you if something is disputed later. Send your notice to your supervisor or HR, and follow whatever leave request procedure your employer has in place. Keep a copy.

Be Ready to Provide Medical Certification

Your employer can ask for medical verification of the need for OFLA leave. If the leave is foreseeable, certification can be requested before it starts. For unexpected leave, you have 15 days from the employer’s request to provide it.⁴

The certification should come from a healthcare provider and cover the diagnosis, expected duration, and medical necessity of the leave. Your employer is entitled to enough information to confirm the leave qualifies, but not your complete medical history. Federal law under GINA also bars employers from requesting genetic information or detailed family medical history through the certification process, except as narrowly needed to determine leave qualification.⁵

What Happens After You Apply

Once your employer knows you need leave, they have obligations that kick in quickly.

Within five business days, your employer must tell you whether you are eligible for OFLA leave.¹ Designating time off as OFLA leave is the employer’s job, not yours, even if you never used the acronym.

During your leave, your group health insurance must continue on the same terms as if you were still working. You remain responsible for your share of the premium, but the employer cannot drop coverage or move you to a different plan just because you are on leave.

One coordination point worth knowing: since July 2024, OFLA and Paid Leave Oregon no longer run at the same time and have separate leave banks. If your event could qualify under both, ask your employer which designation applies, because you may be able to use each program for its own portion.⁶

If Your Employer Denies Leave or Retaliates

If your employer refuses valid leave, punishes you for taking it, or does not restore your position, you have two paths. You can file a complaint with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI), or file a civil lawsuit directly.¹

A court can order reinstatement, back pay covering up to two years before the complaint was filed, and other equitable relief, and can award attorney fees and costs to the prevailing party.⁷ If you go through BOLI first and then want to sue, you have 90 days from BOLI’s determination to file.

From the moment you start planning your leave, save everything: your written request, any medical certifications, employer emails, and notes on conversations with your supervisor or HR. Most OFLA disputes turn on what was said and when, and a clean paper trail is the strongest thing you can bring to one.

1
State of Oregon: BOLI. Oregon Family Leave Act
2
Legal Information Institute. Oregon Admin Code 839-009-0240 – OFLA Length of Leave and Other Conditions
3
Oregon Secretary of State. 839-009-0250 OFLA Notice by Employee Designation by Employer
4
Legal Information Institute. Oregon Admin Code 839-009-0260 – OFLA Medical Verification and Scheduling of Treatment
5
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Fact Sheet Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act
6
Paid Leave Oregon. Employees Overview
7
OregonLaws. ORS 659A.885 – Civil Action