April 2022: Oregon Rule Expands Reasons Employees Can Take Emergency Paid Leave

Update Applicable to:
All employers in the state of Oregon.

What happened?
March 21, 2022, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) adopted a permanent rule, BLI 3-2022, that expands the reasons employees can use leave under Oregon’s paid sick and safe leave law during a public health emergency.

What are the details?
Under the permanent rule, eligible employees may take protected sick leave for absences connected to:

1. an emergency evacuation order of level 2 (SET) or level 3 (GO) issued by a public official with the authority to do so, if the affected area subject to the order includes either the location of the employer’s place of business or the employee’s home address; or
2. a determination by a public official with the authority to do so that the air quality index or heat index is at a level where continued exposure to such levels would jeopardize the employee’s health.

BOLI’s permanent rule expanding paid sick and safe leave is identical to its temporary rule in effect from August 6, 2021, through January 17, 2022. On December 29, 2021, BOLI filed a notice of the proposed permanent rule. In its rulemaking report, BOLI stated that it received no public comment during the four-week comment period or testimony at the public rulemaking hearing.

Effective April 1, 2022, during a public emergency, eligible employees can also use protected paid sick leave for the following reasons:

1. closure of the employee’s place of business, or the school or place of care of the employee’s child, by order of a public official due to a public health emergency;
2. a determination by a lawful public health authority or by a health care provider that the presence of the employee or the employee’s family member in the community would jeopardize the health of others, such that the employee must provide self-care or care for the family member; or
3. the exclusion of the employee from the workplace under any law or rule that requires the employer to exclude the employee from the workplace for health reasons.

For more information, please see the links below:

BLI 3-2022

Article

What do employers need to do?
Employers should review the links provided above and make immediate adjustments to their paid leave policy to be in compliance with the new rule.