Under Oregon sick leave laws, nearly every employee in the state earns at least one hour of protected sick time for every 30 hours worked, starting the first day on the job. Whether those hours are paid depends on how many people your employer has on the payroll, but the job protection itself applies to everyone covered. You can use the time for your own illness, to care for a family member, to deal with domestic violence or stalking, or when a public health order closes your workplace or your child’s school.
Who the Law Covers
The law reaches almost anyone who works in Oregon for wages, including hourly, salaried, commissioned, and piece-rate workers, as well as home care and personal support workers.1Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 653.601 – Definitions for ORS 653.601 to 653.661 A short list of workers is excluded: independent contractors, federal work-study and state-assisted training participants, railroad employees covered by the federal Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, people employed by their own parent, spouse, or child, and workers who already receive paid sick time under federal law.
Paid or Unpaid Depends on Employer Size
Every covered employer must provide sick time. Whether that time is paid turns on headcount. Employers with 10 or more employees anywhere in Oregon must pay for the hours. In Portland, the threshold drops to six.2State of Oregon. Sick Time Those counts are based on the average number of employees per business day during the prior year.3Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 653.606 – Employee Count, Paid and Unpaid Sick Time, Rules, Accrual, Use and Carryover Amounts
If your employer falls under those thresholds, you still accrue and use sick time on the same terms. It is simply unpaid. The job protection does not change: your employer cannot fire you, cut your hours, or discipline you for taking sick time you have earned, whether paid or not.
How You Earn and Bank Hours
Accrual and Caps
You earn one hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked, from day one of employment. Your employer can cap annual accrual at 40 hours.3Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 653.606 – Employee Count, Paid and Unpaid Sick Time, Rules, Accrual, Use and Carryover Amounts Unused hours carry over, up to 40 hours into the next year, and your employer can hold your total running balance to 80 hours. Even if you have a large banked balance, your employer can limit actual use to 40 hours in any single year.
Front-Loading as an Alternative
Many employers skip the accrual bookkeeping by front-loading at least 40 hours at the start of each benefit year. If your employer does this, you have access to the full 40 hours immediately, and the employer is not required to carry over unused hours since you get a fresh 40 each year.3Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 653.606 – Employee Count, Paid and Unpaid Sick Time, Rules, Accrual, Use and Carryover Amounts
The 91-Day Wait
Accrual starts immediately, but you cannot actually use sick time until your 91st calendar day of employment. After that, you can use hours as they accrue. The default minimum use increment is one hour, so you do not have to burn a full day for a short appointment.4Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 653.621 – Minimum Use Increments, Notice to Employer, Rules There is a narrow exception: if hourly increments would cause the employer undue hardship and the employer offers at least 56 hours of paid leave per year, the minimum increment can be set at four hours.
Knowing Your Balance
Your employer must tell you how much sick time you have available at least once per quarter. Most include it on your pay stub; some use an online portal.2State of Oregon. Sick Time
What You Can Use Sick Time For
Oregon sick time covers more than a case of the flu. The qualifying reasons include:
- Any mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition of your own, including doctor visits, treatment, and preventive care such as checkups and vaccinations.
- Caring for a family member who is ill, injured, or has a health condition, or taking them to medical appointments.
- Safe time for domestic violence, sexual assault, harassment, bias crimes, or stalking affecting you or your minor child, including seeking legal help, obtaining a protective order, counseling, victim services, or relocating.
- Public health emergencies that lead a government to close your workplace, your child’s school, or a place of care.
Those safe-time protections are often overlooked. If you or your minor child is dealing with domestic violence or stalking, you can use sick time to pursue legal protection, find a safe place to live, get counseling, or access victim services without putting your job at risk.5Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 659A.272 – Employer Required to Provide Leave6Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 653.616 – Allowable Uses of Sick Time
One thing sick time does not cover: bereavement. Time off after a family member’s death falls under the Oregon Family Leave Act, not the sick time statute.
Giving Notice and Providing Documentation
Notice to Your Employer
When you know in advance that you will need time off, say for a scheduled surgery or appointment, your employer can require up to 10 days’ advance notice. That is a ceiling, not a floor; many employers ask for less. You should also make a reasonable effort to schedule the absence so it does not heavily disrupt operations.4Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 653.621 – Minimum Use Increments, Notice to Employer, Rules
For unexpected absences, you need to tell your employer as soon as reasonably possible. Follow your workplace’s normal call-in procedures, as long as those procedures do not effectively block you from using the time.
When the Employer Can Ask for a Doctor’s Note
Your employer can request medical verification only after you have been absent more than three consecutive scheduled workdays. The verification has to come from a health care provider, but the law draws a hard line on what your employer cannot demand: no details about your diagnosis, the nature of the illness, or the specifics of any domestic violence or stalking situation.7Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 653.626 – Medical Verification
If your employer suspects abuse of sick time or sees a suspicious pattern, they can request verification sooner. In that case the employer must pay any reasonable costs of getting the documentation, including lost wages for the appointment, to the extent the costs are not covered by your health insurance.7Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 653.626 – Medical Verification Any medical information you provide must be kept confidential and separate from your regular personnel file.
What Your Employer Cannot Do
It is illegal in Oregon to punish an employee for using sick time, asking about sick time rights, or participating in a related investigation. The statute spells out three prohibitions:
- Refusing to let you use earned sick time, delaying payment, or putting obstacles in the way of using it.
- Firing, demoting, cutting hours, denying a promotion, or taking any other adverse action because you used sick time or asked about it.
- Counting sick time absences as points or occurrences under an attendance policy that leads to discipline.
The attendance-points rule catches many larger employers off guard. If your workplace runs an automated attendance system that assigns a point or occurrence for a sick time absence, that system violates Oregon law on its face.
If Your Employer Breaks the Rules
You have two paths. File a complaint with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI), or bring a civil action in court.9Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 653 – Minimum Wages, Employment Conditions, Minors BOLI has broad enforcement authority over the entire sick leave statute and can investigate on its own.
For willful violations of the accrual, use, notice, or documentation rules, BOLI can impose civil penalties of up to $1,000 per violation. Employers who deny sick time or retaliate may also face liability for back pay, reinstatement, and other remedies under Oregon’s employment discrimination framework. To file, contact BOLI’s Complaint Resolution Center online or call 971-245-3844.10State of Oregon. Wage and Hour Complaint Form
Sick Leave Is Not Paid Leave Oregon
Workers often mix up Oregon sick leave with Paid Leave Oregon, a separate state insurance program for longer family and medical leave. Sick leave gives you up to 40 hours a year, paid at your regular wage by a qualifying employer, for routine illness, preventive care, family care, safe time, and public health closures. Paid Leave Oregon covers up to 12 weeks (14 in some cases) at a percentage of your average weekly wage for serious health conditions, a family member’s serious health condition, bonding with a new child, and safe leave.11Paid Leave Oregon. Paid Leave, OFLA, and FMLA Comparison Chart
Use sick time for a bad cold, a dental appointment, or a few days of recovery from a minor procedure. Paid Leave Oregon is for the longer, more serious situations like surgery recovery, cancer treatment, or caring for a seriously ill parent. If your situation qualifies for both, the two can run at the same time, and your employer can require you to use accrued sick time during a Paid Leave Oregon benefit period.
Leaving the Job
Oregon does not require private employers to pay out unused sick time when you quit, get laid off, or are fired. Your accrued balance stays on the books. If the same employer rehires you within 180 days, your previously accrued sick time must be restored. That rehire rule matters most for seasonal workers and employees in industries with heavy turnover, where gaps in employment are common rather than permanent.