Detangling Oregon Leaves - Parental Leaves vs Pregnancy Disability Leave

An employee tells you that they are having a baby and that they need to take time off both before and after the birth. What do you do? Is the leave covered under the Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA) or Paid Leave Oregon (PLO)?

As with anything leave-related, it’s complicated.

First, let’s talk about pregnancy disability leave.

What is pregnancy disability leave?

This leave is covered by the OFLA and is available to birthing parents only. It can be used for pregnancy-related conditions that require leave, such as gestational diabetes, bedrest, or prenatal appointments. However, pregnancy disability can also be used after a baby is born to recover from the birth. Pregnancy disability is not parental leave.

How much pregnancy disability leave can an employee take?

An employee can take up to 12 weeks of pregnancy disability leave under OFLA. This is in addition to the 12 weeks of leave available for any other OFLA-qualifying reason.

How do I know how much pregnancy disability leave an employee needs?

You may require employees to submit medical verification from their healthcare provider stating the amount of leave they need.

Can an employee take leave under Paid Leave Oregon for pregnancy disability reasons?

Possibly, as the reason for leave may qualify as a serious health condition, which is covered under PLO.

How do I know if the leave is covered under OFLA or PLO?

First, OFLA and PLO cannot run concurrently. When you are aware that an employee may need leave due to an OFLA qualifying reason, you should generally begin the OFLA process and issue the employee an eligibility and rights and responsibilities notice and medical verification (if applicable). Once you receive the medical verification, then you can determine whether the leave is approved. For this situation, let’s assume that the leave is approved, and the employee is covered by OFLA for pregnancy disability leave.

You later find out that the employee has applied for PLO and has been approved. The employee has already been approved for OFLA, but the leaves can’t run concurrently. In this case, since the employee has been approved for PLO then the leave would no longer be covered by OFLA. If the employee had already taken leave for dates that are approved for PLO, then those hours would be credited back to the employee’s OFLA entitlement.

Now let’s talk about parental leave.

What is parental leave?

Parental leave is time that an employee may take to bond with their child in the first year after birth, after adoption, or after being placed in your home through foster care. Unlike pregnancy disability leave, parental leave is available to both the birthing and non-birthing parent. Parental leave is not covered by OFLA, but it is covered under PLO.

How much parental leave can an employee take?

Under PLO, employees can typically take 12 weeks of parental leave, though this could increase to 14 weeks for birthing parents. PLO offers two extra weeks of paid leave for pregnancy-related reasons. It is possible that an employee could take two weeks of PLO for pregnancy-related reasons and then 12 weeks of PLO for parental leave for a total of 14 weeks of paid leave.

If an employee takes both pregnancy disability leave and parental leave, how do I know when one leave ends and the other begins?

There are a few ways to determine the change in leaves. First, the medical verification for pregnancy disability will let you know how much time is covered under OFLA. For example, an employee might be approved for four weeks of pregnancy disability leave after the birth. In that case, OFLA coverage would end after four weeks post-birth unless the employee requested and was approved for an extension. Now there are a few possibilities that could occur:

• The employee applies for PLO and is approved to start parental leave four weeks after the birth. This date lines up with the end of the pregnancy disability leave, so OFLA ends after four weeks, and PLO begins.
• The employee chooses not to apply for PLO. Since OFLA does not cover parental leave and the employee is only approved for four weeks of pregnancy leave, OFLA ends. Their parental leave is not covered.
• The employee applies for PLO and is approved to start parental leave – but the start date is two weeks before their approved OFLA ends. PLO and OFLA cannot overlap. This means that although the employee is approved for four weeks of OFLA after the birth, they would only be covered by OFLA for two weeks post-birth and then PLO would start immediately after that.

My company is covered under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). How does this affect the situation?

FMLA-covered employers have yet another leave to consider. However, unlike OFLA and PLO, which cannot run at the same time, FMLA can run concurrently with both OFLA and PLO. If an employee is taking pregnancy disability leave under OFLA, then FMLA would likely run concurrently, as the reason for leave could qualify as a serious health condition. If an employee is taking parental leave under PLO, FMLA would generally run concurrently because it also covers parental leave.

FMLA only provides 12 weeks of leave, so if an employee takes 12 weeks of pregnancy disability under OFLA and then 12 weeks of parental leave, FMLA would generally only cover the 12 weeks of pregnancy disability before being exhausted. The parental leave would then only be covered by PLO.

However, if an employee were to take only six weeks of pregnancy disability leave under OFLA and then 12 weeks of PLO for parental leave, FMLA would generally overlap with both leaves. It would cover six weeks of pregnancy disability leave (as a serious health condition) and then cover six weeks of parental leave before being exhausted. The last six weeks of parental leave would be covered by PLO only.

For more information on OFLA and PLO, Cascade members can visit our OFLA FAQs and Paid Leave Oregon site. You can also contact us at compliance@cascadeemployers.com with any questions.