OFLA Sick Child Leave Expanded
Tuesday, April 21, 2020 at 01:26PM 
Sick Child Leave Expanded to Include School Closures
Oregon's Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle announced an emergency rule amending the Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA)’s sick child leave rule to include leave to care for a child when schools have been closed due to a public health emergency.
BOLI Temporary Administrative Order
The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) is relying on the word “condition” in the existing OFLA statute as authority for this rule.
To care for a child of the employee who is suffering from an illness, injury or condition that is not a serious health condition but that requires home care.
Commissioner Hoyle has been asked to clarify that this rule only applies to statewide public health emergencies.
The emergency rule went into effect immediately on March 18, 2020 and will continue through September 13, 2020.
OFLA Requirements Remain
All employers with 25 or more Oregon employees in the current or previous year are subject to OFLA. To qualify for protected OFLA leave, an employee must have been employed by the employer for at least 180 calendar days and worked an average of 25 hours per week (except for parental leave for the birth, adoption or foster care placement of a child).
Generally, qualified employees may take up to 12 weeks of protected, unpaid leave for designated purposes, including sick child leave.
Under this emergency rule, these OFLA requirements remain. That is, to qualify for unpaid sick child leave due to a school closure, the employee must work for an employer with 25 or more employees, for 180 calendar days, averaging 25 or more hours a week.
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