HRAR-6.05 - Paid and Protected, Oregon and Family Medical Leaves

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Purpose

This policy outlines the requirements and processes for the City to provide protected leave to eligible employees in accordance with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA), and Paid Leave Oregon (PLO). This policy also outlines procedures for employees to use benefits under PLO, which provides partial or full wage replacement for time away from work to eligible individuals.

Definitions and Leave Types

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA): A Federal job protection policy allowing leave from work for self or family for qualifying medical reasons. 

Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA): An Oregon job protection policy allowing leave from work for self or family for qualifying medical or non-medical reasons. 

Paid Leave Oregon (PLO): An Oregon paid leave program providing eligible employees paid leave time from work for family, medical or safe leave qualifying reasons. 

Protected Leave: Employees returning to work after taking any of the above leave types are entitled to be restored to their former job if that position still exists. An employee’s benefits remain active while off work on approved FMLA, OFLA or PLO leave. Any share of health plan premiums normally paid by the employee prior to leave must continue to be paid by the employee during the leave period. However, if an employee missed premium deduction payments during an unpaid period of protected leave, those are paid when the employee returns to employment. Where necessary for the employee’s situation and otherwise allowed by law, leave may be either continuous or intermittent (e.g., reduced schedule or recurring absences). Protected leave types allowed by only one rather than overlapping laws are indicated in parentheses. 

Parental (FMLA or PLO): An eligible employee may take leave to care for a newborn, newly adopted or newly placed foster child. Parental Leave may be taken any time within 12 months of the birth, adoption, or placement of the child. 

Pregnancy-Related Leave: An eligible employee may take leave due to limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, pregnancy termination, fertility or infertility treatment, or related medical conditions. 

Safe Leave (PLO): Leave taken for survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, harassment, stalking, or bias crimes to seek legal or law enforcement assistance, seek medical treatment, assist a minor child or dependent, obtain victim services, or relocate. 

Serious Health Condition (FMLA or PLO): An eligible employee may take leave on a continuous or intermittent basis for their own serious health condition or to care for a family member with a serious health condition. 

Sick Child Leave (OFLA): An eligible employee may take leave to care for their child due to an illness, injury or health condition requiring home care, or to care for a child who requires home care due to the closure of the child’s school or childcare provider as a result of a public health emergency. 

Bereavement Leave (OFLA): An eligible employee may take leave to grieve a family member’s death, make necessary arrangements related to the death, and/or attend the funeral or alternative ceremony. An eligible employee is entitled to take up to two weeks of unpaid leave per death. No more than four weeks of bereavement leave can be taken in one year. OFLA bereavement leave must be completed within 60 days after the date on which the employee learns of the death. OFLA bereavement leave does not alter or expand any paid funeral or bereavement leave that may be available under City policy or any collective bargaining agreement and may run in addition to any paid leave. 

Military Caregiver Leave (FMLA only): An eligible employee may take leave to care for an injured service member who is the employee’s parent, child, or spouse or for whom the employee is the next of kin. Such leave may be taken for up to 26 workweeks in any single 12-month period. Leave to care for a military service member, when combined with all other FMLA leave may not exceed 26 workweeks in a single 12-month period. 

Qualifying Exigency Leave (FMLA only): An eligible employee may take leave for a qualifying exigency due to the employee’s parent, child or spouse on active military duty or who has been notified of an impending call or order to active duty in the Armed Forces in support of a contingency operation. 

Oregon Military Family Leave Act (OMFLA): An eligible employee may take leave for a spouse or domestic partner of a member of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, or military reserve who has been called to active duty or notified of impending call to active duty, or who is on leave from active duty. An eligible employee may take a total of 14 calendar days’ leave per call or order to active duty or notification of a leave from deployment. Leave taken under OMFLA will count against an employee's available OFLA leave entitlement. 

Leave Year: Generally, the City uses a measured-forward 52-week period. Under this method, an employee’s 52-week leave year begins on the Sunday prior to the first day that leave is taken for the first qualifying reason and ends on the Saturday 52 weeks later. The employee’s leave entitlement for the beginning of each qualifying reason would be any balance of the 12 weeks that has not been used during the 52-week leave year established by the first qualifying reason. Additional weeks may be available due to the qualifying reason of the leave. 

For FMLA only, the City currently uses a calendar year basis (January through December), meaning that an employee’s leave bank starts over each year on January 1. Effective January 1, 2025, a measuredforward year applies for all leave types.

Eligibility

Specific eligibility requirements apply under state and federal law. Bureau, service or program area FMLA Coordinators will determine eligibility consistent with state and federal law. The State of Oregon will review all PLO applications and determine eligibility. Refer to Guidance in Resources for examples. 

To be eligible for: 

FMLA, an employee must have been employed by the City for a total of at least 12 months (if months are non-consecutive, there can be no more than a seven-year break in service) and must have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12-month period immediately preceding the leave. Periods of absence due to service covered by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act are counted in determining in determining whether an employee has been employed for at least 12 months. 

OFLA, an employee must have been employed by the City for a period of 180 calendar days immediately preceding the date leave begins and must have worked an average of 25 hours per week during that 180-day period. OFLA eligible employees who terminate or are removed from the schedule, but return to service within 180 days remain eligible for OFLA leave on their return. Also, credit for days of employment prior to a break in service must be restored when the employee is reemployed/returned to service within 180 days. During a public health emergency, employees may become eligible with just 30 days of employment (rather than 180) if they have worked an average of 25 hours a week in the 30 days before taking leave. 

PLO, employees who work in Oregon, have earned at least $1,000 from any Oregon employer in the year prior to applying for PLO, contributed to Paid Leave through payroll deductions, and who have a qualifying life event, may be eligible for benefits. Additional rules may apply to employees performing work in more than one state. 

Family Member (FMLA): The employee’s spouse, child under 18 who is biological, adopted, foster, step, or for whom the employee stands in loco parentis, or a child older than 18 if they are incapable of self-care because of a disability, have a serious health condition, or need care because of the serious health condition, or parent who is biological, adoptive, step, or foster parent, or someone who stood in loco parentis to the employee when the employee was a child. 

Family Member (OFLA/PLO): The employee's spouse or domestic partner; the employee's child, parent, sibling or stepsibling, grandparent, grandchild, or any such family member's spouse or domestic partner; or any individual related by blood or affinity whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family member. 

Paid Time Off (FMLA/OFLA): Time off work for FMLA and OFLA is an unpaid leave entitlement; however, consistent with procedures in this rule, use of paid leave accruals may apply during qualifying leave periods. 

Paid Time Off (PLO): Time off work pursuant to PLO is determined by the State of Oregon Employment Department (OED). OED provides employees with partial or full wage replacement benefits based on a sliding scale using the wages an employee earned in a year and the state average weekly wage. PLO only covers full-day absences. Refer to OED in Resources for PLO benefit estimate information. 

City Paid Parental Leave: All regular, probationary, limited duration and temporary employees including Bureau Directors, Administrators and employees in elected official offices and employees in “at-will” classifications in budgeted positions are eligible for City paid parental leave for up to a maximum of one continuous period not to exceed 6 weeks in a calendar year after 180 consecutive calendar days of employment. Parental Leave must be used within twelve months following the birth, adoption or Foster Care placement of a child. Refer to Guidance under this rule for additional details regarding access to City Paid Parental Leave.

Procedures to Use Leave Accrual, Apply, Notice and Certify

Using Your Accruals: Employees must indicate to the City, in writing, that they wish to utilize their accrued paid time off during a period of FMLA, OFLA, or PLO leave. Unless otherwise provided in a collective bargaining agreement, paid time off will accrue only on the monies paid by the City that the employee has elected to use. Once leave accruals are requested to be applied, retroactive corrections to remove used paid leave accruals are not allowed, unless a one-time exception is granted by the Bureau of Human Resources Director, or their designee. 

FMLA/OFLA Application and Notice: Employees are required to give the City 30 days’ notice of the need for leave when it is foreseeable (e.g., planned surgery) by completing a FMLA/OFLA Leave of Absence Application form and providing it to their Bureau's FMLA Coordinator. If the need for the leave is unforeseeable, the employee must give verbal notice to the City as soon as it is possible and practicable after the need for leave becomes known to the employee. 

When possible, an employee must make a reasonable effort to schedule treatment or supervision at times that will minimize disruption of the City’s operations, subject to the approval of the employee or family member’s health care provider. 

PLO Application and Notice: Employees must file an application for Paid Leave Oregon benefits directly with OED. If an employee begins leave without prior notice, the employee must give oral notice to the employer within 24 hours and written notice within 3 days. Oral notice for unforeseeable leave may be given by anyone on behalf of the employee. 

Written notice for PLO unforeseeable leave may be given by the employee’s emergency contact person, or any other person otherwise specifically designated by the employee in the employer’s records. Written notice should be provided to the employee’s manager or supervisor, and Responsible Administrator if assigned, and specify the (1) employee’s first and last name, (2) the type of leave, (3) an explanation of the need for leave, and (4) anticipated timing and duration of the leave. Written notice includes, but is not limited to, handwritten or typed notices, and all forms of written electronic communications such as email. 

Failure to provide timely notice may result in the OED reducing an employee’s first week of paid leave benefits by up to 25%. Employees must advise the City as soon as practicable if the dates of a scheduled PLO leave change or are extended, or if the dates of leave were initially unknown. Employees are responsible for providing to OED any applicable PLO required supporting documentation and attestations. 

Certification Requirements: For FMLA and OFLA, except for FMLA parental leave, or OFLA bereavement and sick child leave, the City requires employees to submit a certification from a healthcare provider to the Bureau FMLA Coordinator, or Responsible Administrator, as soon as possible, or 15 calendar days following a request for certification unless extenuating circumstances exist. An employee who fails to submit a timely, fully completed certification after being notified of the requirement for medical certification, may be denied family medical leave coverage for the absence. The information provided on the certification must be sufficient to support the need for leave, but a diagnosis is not required. A new medical certification may be required within the leave year if the employee requests an extension of leave, if circumstances described by the previous certification have changed significantly, or, if the City receives information that casts doubt upon the employee’s stated reason for the absence. The cost of any medical verification not covered by insurance or other benefits will be paid for by the City of Portland. 

Return to Work: When an employee takes leave for their own serious health condition, the employee must provide a certification from the employee’s health care provider to the Bureau FMLA Coordinator, or assigned Responsible Administrator, that the employee is able to resume work prior to commencing work. The employee shall be reinstated to their former position if the job still exists. Employees are still subject to nondiscriminatory employment actions such as layoff or discipline that would have been taken without regard to the employee’s leave. An employee must return to work on the date specified and mutually agreed upon by the parties.

Health Benefits and Protected Rights Assurances

Continuing Health Benefits: If an employee is eligible and qualifies for protected leave under this Rule, the City will maintain their group health insurance coverage during the leave as if the employee had continued to work, and any share of health plan premiums normally paid by the employee prior to leave must continue to be paid by the employee during the leave period. If the employee's failure to make the premium payment leads to a potential lapse in coverage, the City shall upon the employee’s return to work, restore the health coverage equivalent to that which the employee would have had if leave had not been taken and the premium payments had not been missed. The City may recover premiums paid for an employee's insurance if the employee fails to return after the period of leave to which the employee is entitled has expired unless there is a continuation, recurrence or onset of a serious health condition. 

Protected Rights: The City takes its FMLA, OFLA, and PLO obligations very seriously and will not interfere with, restrain or deny the exercise of any protected leave right. The City will not discriminate or retaliate against any employee because that person uses or attempts to use FMLA, OFLA, or PLO. Employees who believe their rights have been violated in any way should immediately report the matter to their Human Resources Business Partner or the Bureau of Human Resources. Any health information related to family leave, medical leave or safe leave is confidential and is maintained in the employee’s medical file rather than their personnel file. Employees have the right to file an administrative charge with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries or a lawsuit in Circuit Court if they believe their rights under the law have been violated.

Resources

• Oregon Employment Department - Paid Leave Oregon
• FMLA Poster (English) and (Spanish), OFLA Poster (English) and (Spanish), Paid Leave Oregon Poster (English) and (Spanish), Worksite Posters in Other Languages
• Guidance (to be linked once finalized after latest rule revisions)