Filing for Paid Leave Oregon

Detailed Instructions for filing a Paid Leave Oregon claim from the State of Oregon | Paid Leave Oregon Common Questions.

Paid Leave Oregon has also created several resources to help you create an account, complete your claim and receive payment. We highly recommend reviewing these resources to assist with this process:

Timing

If you are eligible for Paid Leave Oregon benefits through the state of Oregon, there are several steps you will need to complete before you can actually submit a claim for benefits.

You can complete some of these steps prior to your leave of absence:

Notify your employer of your need for leave. If you know you will need to use Paid Leave for an upcoming medical procedure, to have a child, to adopt a baby, or for any other qualifying life event, you must let your employer know at least 30 calendar days before taking leave.
In an emergency, you must tell your employer that you need to use Paid Leave within 24 hours. Then, you must give written notice to your employer within 3 days of your leave start date.
Please note: Your first weekly benefit may be reduced by 25% if you can't show that you notified your employer.
Gather your documents and review the Paid Leave Oregon online resources. Review the resources on the Paid Leave Oregon overview pages and the Employee toolkit to gather the specific documents needed based on the type of leave you are taking.
Create a Frances Online account. Frances Online is the fastest way to apply for benefits.
If you cannot apply for benefits online, you can send a paper application to apply by mail or call Paid Leave Oregon at 1-833-854-0166. It may take longer to receive a response.
Apply for Paid Leave Oregon benefits. You can apply immediately after you create an account in Frances Online. Sign in to Frances Online to apply.
1. Apply no earlier than 30 days before you need to take leave, or
2. Apply no later than 30 days after you take your leave.
Verify your life event. The documentation you need to verify your qualifying life event is based on what type of leave you need to take. Refer to the Paid Leave Oregon What You Need to Apply Checklist to identify the documentation you will need to verify your life event.

After your application has been approved, you can update your application anytime that the leave time frame changes. You can learn more about how to update your application here.

If you take leave on an intermittent (separate blocks of time) schedule, meaning that you occasionally take days or weeks of leave, you need to submit a weekly claim before you can receive payment. The weekly claim tells Paid Leave the dates you took leave, the dates you worked, and the dates you didn’t work. You can only complete your weekly claim after the end of the week in which you took intermittent leave.

The fastest way to submit a weekly claim is through Frances Online. However, you can also submit a weekly claim form (Weekly Claim Form Instructions) by mail or via phone at 1-833-854-0166. Please note: This claim-by-phone line is ONLY for weekly filing if you have an intermittent claim. You can’t file an initial claim by calling this phone number.

Submit all weekly claims to Paid Leave within 30 days from the end of the week you took leave. Please note: If you submit your weekly claim later than 30 days from the end of the week the leave happened, you can no longer receive payment for it.

Pay

For many employees, Paid Leave will replace 100% of their wages. Your benefit amount is based on your average wages from the previous year. The minimum and maximum weekly amounts are based on the state average minimum wage. Minimum and maximum amounts are determined each year in July. The Paid Leave website lists these amounts.

You may be able to collect both state benefits and certain types of pay or private disability coverage through your employer at the same time.

Depending on your employer's insurance policy, you may be eligible for both paid medical leave through Paid Leave Oregon and private disability benefits. Contact your insurance provider to see if you can file for disability payments at the same time as paid medical leave.
You can use employer-provided Paid Time Off (PTO), such as sick or vacation, at the same time as Paid Leave Oregon, but it will reduce the amount you’ll be paid for that week (though it does not reduce the total hours of leave for which you can get paid).
Supplemental benefits that your employer may provide, such as a Paid Parental Leave benefit, do not affect your Paid Leave pay. However, how the employer and state benefits integrate will be outlined in your employer's established policy. Most employer policies will have an offset provision for benefits entitled to or received under a state compulsory benefits act or law. This means that the employer's benefit can or will be offset by the amount your receive from Paid Leave Oregon. For example, if your employer provides Paid Parental Leave as a top-up benefit, they may estimate and deduct the benefit amount you are likely to receive through Paid Leave Oregon, and then pay you only the amount above the Paid Leave Oregon amount to bring you to 100% of your weekly pay.

Tips for Filing

Informing your employer of your weekly benefit amount

Your employer will be notified by mail when you apply for Paid Leave, and when your leave is approved or denied.

If you will be receiving any supplemental pay or benefits from your employer or private disability while you are on leave, we recommend that you also inform your employer or disability insurer of the amount you will receive from the State of Oregon.
Your employer/disability insurer will likely calculate an assumed amount for you based on your weekly wage and annual salary; however, this amount may differ from the state's award. To ensure that you are receiving the correct compensation from your employer or private disability while receiving state benefits, it is best to share your benefit amount once it is received. The state of Oregon will not do this for you.

Next steps for pregnancy and bonding

If you are pregnant and plan to take a combination of medical and family leave, you will fill out two applications. Fill out the first application for medical leave and upload the required documentation with your application. You may be able to take up to 2 additional weeks (up to 14 total weeks) if you are pregnant, have given birth, or have health needs because of childbirth.

Then, once you have received a determination on your first application, if you have additional time remaining, you must submit a separate application for family (bonding) leave in your Paid Leave account. You may need additional documentation to verify your claim for family (bonding) leave benefits.

Contacting the Oregon Employment Department (OED)

The best way to contact Paid Leave Oregon is to send a secure message through your Francis Online account. If you send a message while logged in, they can quickly verify your information and respond. It also keeps your information you send securely connected to your account. You can also check the status of your application on Francis Online.

For questions about benefits and eligibility, you can also call Paid Leave Oregon at 1-833-854-0166 or email Paidleave@oregon.gov.