Oregon paid paternity leave is available through Paid Leave Oregon, which gives eligible new fathers and other non-birthing parents up to 12 weeks of paid, job-protected time off to bond with a child during the first year after birth, adoption, or foster placement. Benefits are paid weekly, there’s no waiting period, and your weekly amount depends on how your wages compare to the statewide average.
Who Qualifies as a New Father
You qualify if you earned at least $1,000 in gross wages during your base year, which is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before your leave begins.1Paid Leave Oregon. Common Questions2Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 657B – Family and Medical Leave Insurance If your earnings in that window fall short, the program checks an alternate base year made up of your four most recently completed calendar quarters.
Full-time, part-time, and seasonal workers are all covered under the same framework. Self-employed workers and independent contractors are not automatically in the program, but can opt in by filing a notice with the Employment Department and committing to pay contributions for at least three years.3Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 657B.130 – Elective Coverage for Certain Individuals
The qualifying relationship is defined broadly. Paid Leave Oregon treats a biological, adopted, step, or foster child as a family member, along with a spouse or domestic partner’s child, and extends the definition to “any person who you are connected to like a family member.”4Paid Leave Oregon. Applying for Family Leave Bonding leave has to be used within the first year after the birth or placement.
How Much You Get Paid
Your weekly benefit depends on how your average weekly wage lines up with the statewide average weekly wage. If you earn 65% or less of the state average, Paid Leave Oregon replaces 100% of your wages.5Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 657B – Family and Medical Leave Insurance – Section 657B.050 That’s dollar-for-dollar replacement at the lower end of the wage scale.
If you earn more than 65% of the state average, the formula blends two rates: 65% of the state average weekly wage, plus 50% of whatever your wages exceed that threshold. The maximum weekly benefit is capped at 120% of the state average weekly wage, which the Employment Department resets each July. As of mid-2025, the cap is approximately $1,637 per week.1Paid Leave Oregon. Common Questions
You can draw up to 12 weeks of bonding benefits in a 52-week period. The 52-week clock starts on the Sunday before your first day of leave.6Paid Leave Oregon. Paid Leave Oregon Payments come weekly by direct deposit or on a state-issued debit card, and there is no waiting period before the first payment.
Notice You Owe Your Employer
Your employer can require written notice at least 30 days before your leave starts.7Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 657B.040 – Notice to Employers Prior to Commencing Leave If you skip the notice when the leave was foreseeable, your first week’s benefit can be reduced by up to 25%. Only that first week, not the whole claim. The Employment Department can waive the reduction for good cause.1Paid Leave Oregon. Common Questions
When the leave is unforeseeable, such as a premature birth or a last-minute placement, you have 24 hours to give your employer oral notice and three days to follow up in writing.7Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 657B.040 – Notice to Employers Prior to Commencing Leave
Documents You Need to File
For bonding leave after a birth, you need a Verification of Birth form signed by both you and a health care provider. The signature must be dated no more than 60 days before the expected birth and no more than one year after the actual birth. Altered forms, including whiteouts or strikeouts, are automatically rejected, and anything missing will delay or sink your claim.8Paid Leave Oregon. Verification of Birth Form Instructions If you’re bonding with a child through adoption or foster care, you submit documentation from the placement agency instead.
You’ll also need your Social Security number or ITIN, and your employer’s name, address, and phone number. Match the employer details to what the state has on file; mismatches on employer names or dates are among the most common reasons applications get hung up.
How to File Through Frances Online
All Paid Leave Oregon claims go through Frances Online, the state’s digital portal. You create an account, enter your information, and upload documents directly.9Paid Leave Oregon. What to Expect After submission, the Employment Department reviews the application and sends status updates and decisions through secure messaging inside the portal.
If your claim is denied for missing documents, you have 60 days to submit corrected paperwork and ask for another review.9Paid Leave Oregon. What to Expect That deadline is firm, so don’t let it drift.
Taking the 12 Weeks All at Once or in Pieces
You don’t have to burn all 12 weeks consecutively. Paid Leave Oregon allows intermittent leave, and the smallest increment you can claim is one day. A lot of fathers use that flexibility to spend time at home right after birth and then save some weeks for later transitions, like when a partner’s leave ends or a child starts daycare. The total still can’t exceed 12 weeks within the 52-week benefit period.
How It Works With OFLA and FMLA
This is the piece most people get wrong. Oregon has three leave programs that can touch bonding time: Paid Leave Oregon, which pays benefits; the Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA), which is unpaid and job-protected; and the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), also unpaid and job-protected.
Paid Leave Oregon and OFLA do not run at the same time. If your reason qualifies under both, you pick one, and the weeks don’t double up.10Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. Oregon Family Leave Act – For Workers FMLA and OFLA, in contrast, run concurrently when both apply, so OFLA leave counts your FMLA entitlement down at the same time. How much total time you actually have depends on your employer’s size and your length of service, and the Bureau of Labor and Industries publishes a comparison chart worth reading before you plan your weeks.
Your Job and Health Insurance While You’re Out
After returning from leave, you’re entitled to your same position, or an equivalent one with the same pay and benefits, as long as you worked for the employer for at least 90 days before your leave began.11Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 657B.060 – Job Protection, Benefits, Discrimination Prohibited If your original position no longer exists, your employer has to place you in an available equivalent role.
Small employers with fewer than 25 workers follow slightly different rules. If your position was eliminated during your leave, the employer may place you in a different position with similar duties and the same pay, based on business necessity.11Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 657B.060 – Job Protection, Benefits, Discrimination Prohibited
Your employer has to keep your health insurance in place at the same level and conditions you had before leave. You still owe your usual share of the premium, the same amount that would normally come out of your paycheck.11Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 657B.060 – Job Protection, Benefits, Discrimination Prohibited
Retaliation for taking or even asking about Paid Leave Oregon is prohibited. Employers can’t discipline, demote, or fire you for using the program, and that protection applies regardless of how long you’ve been employed.12Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. Paid Leave Oregon Protections – For Workers Complaints go to the Bureau of Labor and Industries.
Taxes on Your Benefit Payments
Paid Leave Oregon bonding benefits are taxable income on your federal return. Under IRS Revenue Ruling 2025-4, family leave benefits from state programs are included in gross income because they represent new income rather than reimbursement for a health condition.13Internal Revenue Service. Revenue Ruling 2025-4 They are not subject to Social Security, Medicare, or federal unemployment taxes, so the effective tax hit is smaller than it would be on regular wages.
Oregon’s Employment Department issues a Form 1099-G reporting your total family leave benefits for the year in Box 1.14Oregon Department of Revenue. Paid Leave Oregon Benefits When you apply, you can elect to have Oregon state income tax withheld from your weekly payments; any amount withheld shows up in Box 11 of your 1099-G.15Paid Leave Oregon. Paid Leave Oregon Tax Documents If you skip withholding, set money aside so you’re not surprised at filing time.