FMLA in Oregon: Federal Rules, State Leave Laws, and an Eligibility Calculator (2026)

How does FMLA work in Oregon?

The federal FMLA applies in Oregon exactly as it does everywhere: up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for employees with 12 months of service, 1,250 hours worked in the prior 12 months, and 50 or more employees within 75 miles of their worksite, at a private employer with 50 or more employees or any public agency or school. Oregon adds Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA), which covers employers with 25 or more employees and gives 12 weeks a year for pregnancy disability and sick child leave, plus 2 weeks of bereavement leave per death (up to 4 weeks a year). Paid Leave Oregon pays a benefit during the leave, paid sick leave is mandated by the Paid Sick Time Law, and there is a bereavement leave rule. Where the state statute and the FMLA both apply they run at the same time. Checked September 15, 2026.

Does the federal FMLA apply in Oregon?

Yes, and identically to every other state. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act gives an eligible employee up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for a serious health condition, a new child, care for a spouse, parent, or child with a serious health condition, or a military exigency, and up to 26 weeks to care for a seriously injured servicemember. To be eligible you need 12 months of service with the employer, 1,250 hours actually worked in the 12 months before the leave, and a worksite with 50 or more employees within 75 miles. Private employers are covered at 50 or more employees on the payroll in 20 or more workweeks; public agencies and schools are covered at any size.

The three employee tests are measured on the day the leave starts, and the third one is the one that surprises people in Oregon: a covered employer with a small branch has a worksite where nobody is eligible if fewer than 50 employees work at that branch and at other sites within 75 road miles. Hours actually worked in the prior 12 months decide the 1,250-hour test; paid time off and holidays do not count. The calculator on this page runs all three tests and, when one fails, names the date or the hours that would satisfy it.

What Oregon leave laws add to the FMLA

One state statute sits on top of the FMLA in Oregon. Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA) (ORS 659A.150 to 659A.186) applies to employers with 25 or more employees and gives 12 weeks a year for pregnancy disability and sick child leave, plus 2 weeks of bereavement leave per death (up to 4 weeks a year) for since the July 2024 restructuring: pregnancy disability, care for a child with a non-serious illness or during a school closure, and bereavement; serious health condition and parental leave moved to Paid Leave Oregon. Eligibility: 180 days of employment (average hours test removed in 2024). It widens the family circle beyond the FMLA's spouse, parent, and minor child to include spouse, domestic partner, child, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, and any individual related by blood or affinity whose close association is the equivalent of family. Runs concurrently with the FMLA where both apply. Since 2024 OFLA and Paid Leave Oregon no longer stack: an employee uses Paid Leave Oregon for a serious health condition or bonding and OFLA for the reasons Paid Leave does not cover.

Is FMLA leave paid in Oregon?

The FMLA itself pays nothing. Whether the 12 weeks are paid depends on the state program, any disability insurance, and the employer's own paid leave, which may be substituted for the unpaid leave under 29 CFR 825.207. Oregon runs Paid Leave Oregon: benefits since September 2023. Up to 12 weeks, plus 2 for pregnancy-related conditions; 100 percent of wages up to 65 percent of the state average weekly wage, 50 percent above. It covers the employee's own serious health condition as well as bonding and family care, so there is no separate disability program. Paid Leave Oregon protects the job of any employee with 90 consecutive days of service, at every employer size, so the program itself carries the reinstatement right for serious health condition and bonding leave.

While the state benefit is paid the leave is not unpaid, so an employer may not require PTO to run at the same time; several programs let the employee top up to full pay with PTO if the employer agrees. Paid sick leave is mandated statewide by the Paid Sick Time Law, accruing at 1 hour per 30 hours worked up to 40 hours/year. Those hours can be substituted for unpaid FMLA leave. The Oregon paid leave calculator linked below estimates the weekly benefit under the current formula and cap.

Bereavement, sick leave, and the smaller Oregon statutes

Bereavement: OFLA bereavement leave: 2 weeks per death of a covered family member, taken within 60 days, up to 4 weeks a year, employers with 25 or more (ORS 659A.159). Paid Leave Oregon does not pay for bereavement. The federal FMLA does not cover bereavement at all, though it does cover the serious health condition that precedes a death.

The smaller statutes a multi-state employer has to carry in Oregon, one line each.

How the 12-month period and the calculator work in Oregon

The federal entitlement in Oregon is 12 workweeks in the 12-month period the employer has chosen: calendar year, a fixed leave year, 12 months forward from first use, or a rolling 12 months measured backward from each day of leave. The method must be applied to everyone, disclosed in the rights and responsibilities notice, and changed only on 60 days' written notice. Under the rolling method every hour returns 12 months after the day it was taken; under the other three the full entitlement returns on one date. Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA) runs on its own clock (12 weeks a year for pregnancy disability and sick child leave, plus 2 weeks of bereavement leave per death (up to 4 weeks a year)), which is not necessarily the employer's federal 12-month method, so Oregon employers keep two balances for an employee who qualifies under both, and the calculator below tracks the federal one.

The calculator on this page is preset to Oregon. Run the eligibility panel as of the leave start date, convert the schedule into hours (480 for a 40-hour week), then enter the leave taken and the employer's method to see the hours available today, the hours available on a future date, and, under the rolling method, the dates on which used hours come back.

Sources and last check

This page was checked on September 15, 2026 against Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, OFLA; Paid Leave Oregon (paidleave.oregon.gov); ORS 653.601 ff., 657B, 659A.150 ff. The federal rules are 29 U.S.C. 2601 ff. and 29 CFR Part 825. State thresholds and programs change, most often on January 1; the paid leave figures on the linked calculator carry their own effective dates.