You are eligible under the Oregon Family Leave Act if two things are true at once: your employer has at least 25 employees in Oregon, and you have worked for that employer for at least 180 days averaging 25 or more hours per week. Meet both and you can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a one-year period for a qualifying family or medical reason. OFLA eligibility loosens in two situations — parental leave drops the hours requirement, and a declared public health emergency shortens the service requirement to 30 days.
Does Your Employer Have to Offer OFLA Leave
OFLA applies only to employers with at least 25 employees in Oregon for each working day during at least 20 calendar workweeks. Those 20 weeks can fall in either the current year or the year immediately before your leave.1Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 659A.153 – Covered Employers The count includes everyone on the payroll, full-time or part-time. Workers on leave or temporary assignment still count as long as the employment relationship exists.
A business that crossed the 25-employee threshold at any point during the relevant 20-week window remains covered even if the headcount later drops. Public-sector employers throughout Oregon are covered whenever they hit that same minimum. If your employer stays below 25, OFLA does not apply to them at all.
Do You Personally Qualify
Working for a covered employer is only half the test. To qualify for most types of OFLA leave, you must have been employed by that employer for at least 180 days immediately before your leave starts, and you must have averaged at least 25 hours of work per week during those 180 days.2Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 659A.156 – Eligible Employees; Exceptions The 180 days is roughly six months, and the hours are calculated by looking at total hours worked over that period.
If you are unsure whether you clear the 25-hour average, ask your employer for your payroll records and do the math on the full 180-day window rather than a recent slow stretch. Once you are determined eligible for OFLA leave for a qualifying reason, you stay eligible for that reason for the rest of your OFLA leave year. Hours fluctuations mid-leave do not knock you out.
Parental Leave Is Easier to Qualify For
If you need time off for the birth of a child, or for the adoption or foster placement of a child under 18, you only need to meet the 180-day employment requirement. The 25-hour weekly average does not apply.2Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 659A.156 – Eligible Employees; Exceptions Part-time employees who have been with a covered employer for at least six months qualify for parental leave even if they have never averaged 25 hours a week.
Public Health Emergencies Shorten the Clock
During a declared public health emergency, the eligibility rules relax. The employment duration drops to just 30 days, and the weekly hours threshold is measured over that shorter 30-day window rather than the usual 180 days.3Bureau of Labor and Industries. Oregon Family Leave Act This provision kicks in only when an emergency has been formally declared, not any time public health is a concern.
What Being Eligible Lets You Take Leave For
OFLA covers five categories of leave, and which one applies to you determines which eligibility threshold governs.
- Parental leave for the birth of a child, or for the adoption or foster placement of a child under 18. This is the category that skips the 25-hour requirement.
- Serious health condition leave, for your own serious illness, injury, or condition that requires inpatient care or ongoing treatment, or to care for a family member with such a condition.3Bureau of Labor and Industries. Oregon Family Leave Act
- Pregnancy disability leave, for an illness, injury, or condition related to your own pregnancy or childbirth that prevents you from performing your job duties. This is separate from parental leave and carries its own 12-week allowance on top of the standard 12.
- Sick child leave, to care for your child who has an illness, injury, or condition requiring home care. This covers both serious and non-serious conditions, so a bad case of the flu qualifies just as much as something requiring medical treatment.3Bureau of Labor and Industries. Oregon Family Leave Act
- Bereavement leave, up to two weeks per family member’s death, which must be taken within 60 days of learning of the death. Bereavement leave is capped at four weeks total in any one-year period, even if multiple family members pass away.4Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 659A.162 – Length of Leave; Conditions; Rules
“Family member” under OFLA includes your spouse, same-gender domestic partner, biological or adoptive parent, stepparent, foster parent, parent-in-law, parent of your domestic partner, grandparent, grandchild, and anyone with whom you have or had an in loco parentis relationship. Children include biological, adopted, foster, and stepchildren, as well as children of your domestic partner, minor or adult.5Oregon Secretary of State. OAR 839-009-0210 – OFLA: Definitions Siblings are not on the statutory list, which catches some people off guard.
How Much Leave Eligibility Gets You
The baseline entitlement is 12 weeks of leave within any one-year period. That 12-week bank covers parental leave, serious health condition leave, sick child leave, and bereavement leave — bereavement draws from the same pool.4Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 659A.162 – Length of Leave; Conditions; Rules
Two situations add time on top of that:
- Pregnancy disability. If you take leave for a pregnancy-related condition that disables you from working, you get an additional 12 weeks on top of your standard 12, for a potential total of 24 weeks in a single year.4Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 659A.162 – Length of Leave; Conditions; Rules
- Sick child leave after full parental leave. If you use all 12 weeks bonding with a newborn or newly placed child, you are entitled to an additional 12 weeks of sick child leave during the same year.
OFLA leave is unpaid. Your employer is not required to pay wages during the leave, though you or your employer may choose to apply accrued vacation or sick time to some or all of it. When you return at or before the end of your leave, your employer must restore you to your original job or an equivalent position with the same pay, benefits, and working conditions.
OFLA Eligibility Is Not the Same as FMLA or Paid Leave Oregon Eligibility
Qualifying for OFLA does not automatically mean you qualify for the federal Family and Medical Leave Act or for Paid Leave Oregon. Each program has its own thresholds, and you can be eligible for one and not another.
FMLA applies only to employers with 50 or more employees, and the worker must have been employed for at least 12 months with at least 1,250 hours worked during that period.6U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #28: The Family and Medical Leave Act That is a higher bar than OFLA’s, so many Oregon workers qualify for OFLA but not FMLA. When both apply to the same leave event, the time generally runs concurrently against both banks.3Bureau of Labor and Industries. Oregon Family Leave Act FMLA also requires your employer to continue your group health insurance during leave on the same terms as if you were working. OFLA alone does not impose that requirement, so if you qualify only for OFLA, ask your employer about continuing coverage.
Paid Leave Oregon is a separate state program that provides wage replacement when you take time off for qualifying family, medical, or safe leave reasons. It has no minimum work-time requirement for benefits, but you must have worked for your employer for at least 90 days to receive job protection under that program.7Paid Leave Oregon. Common Questions OFLA leave may not be taken concurrently with Paid Leave Oregon leave; the statute says OFLA leave is “in addition to” Paid Leave Oregon leave.4Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 659A.162 – Length of Leave; Conditions; Rules A worker eligible for both can take Paid Leave Oregon benefits for one period and OFLA leave for a separate period rather than burning both clocks down at once.
If You Are Eligible and Your Employer Denies You
Oregon law makes it an unlawful employment practice for a covered employer to deny OFLA leave to an eligible employee or to retaliate against anyone for requesting leave, taking leave, or asking questions about their rights.8Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 659A.183 – Denying Family Leave to Eligible Employee Prohibited; Retaliation Prohibited Retaliation includes discrimination in hiring, tenure, or any other term of employment.
If your employer denied your leave, retaliated against you for taking it, or failed to restore your position when you returned, you can file an employment discrimination complaint with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries.3Bureau of Labor and Industries. Oregon Family Leave Act BOLI investigates complaints and can pursue remedies on your behalf. A private lawsuit may also be available, with remedies including lost wages, reinstatement, and other damages provided under Oregon’s unlawful employment practices statutes.