Oregon PTO Laws: Sick Time, Paid Leave, and Payouts

Oregon PTO laws work differently than most workers expect. The state requires employers to provide protected sick time and offers two family leave programs, but it does not require any employer to offer vacation days, personal days, or general PTO. Voluntary benefits are governed by whatever the employer puts in writing, and unused time is only paid out at the end of a job if the written policy says so.

Sick Time Every Worker Earns

Nearly every employee in Oregon accrues protected sick time. You earn at least one hour for every 30 hours worked, and your employer can cap annual accrual at 40 hours. Whether those hours are paid depends on employer size. Companies with 10 or more employees statewide must pay for sick time, and the threshold drops to six employees if the company has any location in Portland.¹ Smaller employers must still let you accrue and use sick time, but it can be unpaid.²

Accrual starts on your first day, though your employer can require you to wait until your 91st calendar day of employment before actually using any hours. Unused time carries over up to 40 hours, and an employer may cap your total balance at 80 hours while still limiting annual use to 40. An employer can also skip accrual and front-load 40 hours at the start of the year.²

Sick time covers more than physical illness. You can use it for your own mental or physical health, medical appointments, or to care for a family member. It also covers “safety leave” for absences related to domestic violence, harassment, sexual assault, bias crimes, or stalking, including time spent seeking legal help, attending court, receiving counseling, working with a victim assistance provider, or relocating for safety.¹

Oregon Family Leave Act

OFLA provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for a serious health condition, bonding with a new child, or caring for a family member. Your employer must have at least 25 employees, and you must have worked there for at least 180 days while averaging 25 hours per week.³

OFLA leave is unpaid on its own, but you can use accrued vacation or PTO during OFLA to keep drawing a paycheck. Pregnancy disability leave under OFLA is treated separately: if you take it, you are entitled to an additional 12 weeks on top of the standard allotment for any other qualifying purpose in the same leave year.³

Paid Leave Oregon

Paid Leave Oregon is a statewide insurance program under ORS 657B. It provides wage replacement for up to 12 weeks when you need time off for a serious health condition, to bond with a new child, or for “safe leave” tied to domestic violence, sexual assault, harassment, or stalking.⁴ Pregnancy-related complications can add up to two more weeks, bringing the maximum to 14.⁵

To qualify, you must have earned at least $1,000 in Oregon during your base year before applying. There is no waiting week; benefits start from the first week of approved leave.⁶

Your weekly benefit depends on how your average weekly wage compares to Oregon’s statewide average weekly wage (SAWW). If your wages are at or below 65% of the SAWW, you receive 100% of your average weekly wage. Above that line, you receive the full 65% of the SAWW plus 50% of the amount above it. The minimum benefit is 5% of the SAWW and the maximum is 120%. With the SAWW set at $1,363.80 effective July 2025, the current maximum comes to roughly $1,637 per week and the minimum to about $68. These figures adjust each July.⁴

If you have worked for your employer for at least 90 consecutive days, your job is protected during Paid Leave Oregon and you have the right to return to the same position.⁷ If your claim is denied, the job protection falls away, but the act of applying is itself protected and your employer cannot punish you for filing.⁸

How the Leave Programs Stack

OFLA and Paid Leave Oregon do not run at the same time. When your reason for leave qualifies under both, you use one first, exhaust those weeks, then take the other. That means you could potentially access up to 24 weeks in a single year by stacking 12 weeks of OFLA with 12 weeks of Paid Leave Oregon.³

Federal FMLA works differently. It runs concurrently with whichever Oregon program you use first, so your FMLA entitlement ticks down alongside OFLA or Paid Leave Oregon. No one can force you to apply for Paid Leave Oregon, so it is possible to take unpaid FMLA first and apply for PLO afterward, though most workers prefer to start pay sooner.³

You can supplement OFLA with accrued vacation or PTO, but you cannot draw Paid Leave Oregon benefits on top of OFLA at the same time. The job protection rules also differ between programs: 90 consecutive days for Paid Leave Oregon, 180 days plus 25 hours per week on average for OFLA.

Vacation and General PTO Are Voluntary

Oregon does not require employers to provide vacation, personal days, or general PTO. These benefits are entirely up to the employer.⁹ What the state does enforce is the promise itself. Once an employer puts a vacation or PTO policy in writing, that policy becomes a binding wage agreement, and the employer must follow its own terms. If the handbook says you earn two weeks after a year of service, the employer cannot rewrite that after the fact to give you less.

Oregon statutes do not address use-it-or-lose-it rules, so employers are generally free to require you to spend accrued vacation by a deadline or forfeit it, as long as the rule is clearly stated in the written policy. Read the policy carefully before assuming unused days roll over or get paid out later. The written terms control.

Payout of Unused PTO When You Leave

Oregon does not automatically require employers to pay out unused vacation or sick time when a job ends. A payout is owed only if the employer’s written policy or a collective bargaining agreement promises one.¹⁰ If the policy says nothing about payout, the employer owes nothing for leftover PTO. This is the single most common source of surprise at the end of an Oregon job; people assume accrued time is always owed, and it isn’t unless the employer promised it.

When a payout is owed, it counts as wages under ORS 652.140, and the deadlines for delivering the final paycheck are short:

Fired or mutual termination: all wages, including any promised PTO payout, are due by the end of the next business day.¹⁰
Quit with at least 48 hours’ notice: final wages are due on your last day of work, or the next business day if that day falls on a weekend or holiday.¹¹
Quit without 48 hours’ notice: wages are due within five business days or by the next regular payday, whichever comes first.¹¹

An employer who willfully misses these deadlines faces penalty wages under ORS 652.150. The penalty accrues at the employee’s regular hourly rate for eight hours per day, starting from the date the paycheck was due and continuing until it is paid or a legal claim is filed, capped at 30 days. If you send written notice of nonpayment, the penalty is limited to 100% of the unpaid amount unless the employer still fails to pay within 12 days of receiving the notice.¹²

Protection From Retaliation

Taking sick time, using OFLA, or applying for Paid Leave Oregon are all protected activities. Your employer cannot fire you, demote you, cut your hours, or take other adverse action because you exercised these rights. The Bureau of Labor and Industries investigates complaints involving wrongful denial of leave and retaliation. Even a denied Paid Leave Oregon claim leaves the application itself protected, so an employer cannot punish you simply for filing.⁸ If you believe an employer has violated any of these protections, you can file a complaint directly with BOLI.

1
State of Oregon. BOLI – Sick Time
2
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code ORS 653.606 – Employee Count; Paid and Unpaid Sick Time
3
State of Oregon. BOLI – Oregon Family Leave Act – For Workers
4
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 657B – Family and Medical Leave Insurance
5
Paid Leave Oregon. Paid Leave Oregon – Home
6
Paid Leave Oregon. Common Questions – Paid Leave OregonPaid Leave Oregon – Home
7
Paid Leave Oregon. Employees and Paid Leave Oregon
8
State of Oregon. Paid Leave Oregon Protections
9
State of Oregon. Benefits, Holiday and Vacation Pay
10
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 652.140 – Payment of Wages on Termination of Employment
11
State of Oregon. BOLI – Paychecks
12
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes – ORS 652.150