Paid Leave Oregon Employer Best Practices

Paid Leave Oregon has become one of the most difficult leaves in Oregon to navigate. From limited communications from the Oregon Employment Department, delays in application processing, or employees just not communicating, it has often left employers wondering what to do. What are their options? Based on recommendations from BOLI and changes in the statute and rules, Cascade has compiled the following list of best practices to make navigating PLO easier.

Notify Employees of Paid Leave Oregon

Employers are required to notify all employees that Paid Leave Oregon may be available if the employee has a qualifying event. To meet this requirement, employers must post the PLO model notice at each worksite and provide a copy of the poster to remote employees. PLO will be updating their model poster in the new year, so make sure to post the new poster when it is released. The model notice poster is not sufficient for employers with equivalent plans. Employers with equivalent plans should complete the equivalent plan model notice template with the plan’s applicable information, post it at worksites, and send it to remote employees.

When an employee notifies an employer of a need for leave, BOLI recommends having a conversation with the employee about different leaves that may be available to the employee, such as PLO, leave under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), or leave under the Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA). BOLI also recommends documenting the conversation to show that the employer has notified the employee of their rights under PLO.

Employers should also train supervisors to notify Human Resources when an employee has notified them of leave that may qualify under PLO. Human Resources should prepare to have conversations with employees about leaves available to them. Keep in mind that employers do not have to help employees apply for PLO. However, best practice is to provide employees with the employer’s business name, BIN, employer address, main contact, and the employee’s original date of hire. Employees will need this information when applying for benefits; if they enter the wrong information, it could result in a delay in processing and possibly a wage investigation if the employee uses an employer name that is different from the business name under which wages are reported.

Require Written Notice

Another best practice is for employers to require written notice when an employee intends to apply for PLO. This provides employers with information regarding the type of leave and anticipated date of absences, and also gives employers documentation that an employee has requested leave. Additionally, if an employer knows the type of leave, then it may trigger the FMLA process if the type of leave could also qualify under FMLA. Since FMLA and PLO may run concurrently, employers should begin the FMLA process upon notification, including issuing the FMLA Eligibility and Rights and Responsibilities form and requesting medical certification, if applicable.

If an employer chooses to require written notice, then notice requirements are required to be outlined in the employer’s Paid Leave Oregon policy which should be included in the employee handbook. Additionally, employers who require written notice need to include language describing that an employee who fails to provide sufficient notice may have their first weekly benefit reduced by up to 25 percent.

Make sure to provide the policy to all employees when they are hired and any time the policy is updated.

Register for Frances Online

Frances Online is the best way to receive information about employee PLO claims. If employers do not have a Frances Online account, they will receive PLO notifications through mail. This can be problematic as, once an employee applies for PLO, a notice is mailed out to the employer, asking questions such as if the employee is currently employed and if they gave proper notice. The notice only gives employers five days to respond from the date the notice is mailed out. Because of this, it’s possible that an employer could receive the notice after the response deadline. If an employer has a Frances Online account, the system will send an email notification to the account holder when an employee applies for PLO. The employer may then log in to their account and complete the questionnaire. This notification also occurs when the employee’s claim is processed and has either been approved or denied. Having a Frances Online account allows employers to access information regarding employee’s PLO claims much more quickly than if notifications arrive through the mail.

Best practice is for employers to create a Frances Online account and select electronic communications as their communication method of choice.

Consider Leave Protected Unless Notified Otherwise

Since PLO went into effect in 2023, employers have faced the challenge of having a delay between the date an employee applies for leave and the date an employee’s leave is either approved or denied. PLO currently has a processing time of around 30 days from when an employee applies for leave. However, this time could be extended if PLO has to request additional information, such as a medical certification. These delays have led to a few questions: Is the time while an employee is on leave prior to getting approved protected? During this time, can employers require employees to use their accrued paid leave (such as PTO, vacation, or sick time)?

Best practice is to consider the leave approved until the employer has received notice from PLO stating otherwise. The leave should be considered protected during this time and should not count towards an employer’s attendance policy. The employee should also have the choice of whether they use their company-provided accrued leave. If the leave is approved, then great – the employer is already in compliance with PLO.

Not considering the leave approved during the time the employee’s PLO application is being processed may be problematic. For example, an employee applies for leave a few days after they are absent from work. The request takes three weeks to process. During this time, the employer considers the leave unprotected and issues a written warning due to absences. The employer also requires the employee to use their PTO. The employer then receives notice that the leave is approved for PLO. Since the employer already issued the written warning, the warning should be rescinded to avoid taking corrective action based on protected leave. Additionally, the employee should not have been required to use their PTO for the absence, since employers may not require the use while an employee is on leave under PLO. If the employee did not want to use their PTO during those three weeks the application was processing, best practice would be for the employer to attempt to recover the PTO that had already been paid. However, the pay cannot be deducted from an employee’s paycheck, so the employer would need to make arrangements for the employee to pay them back outside of payroll. If the employee cannot pay the employer back, then an employer’s only option to recover the pay would be through small claims court.

However, if the employer considers the leave approved and then the employee’s PLO application is denied, then the employee’s leave is generally unprotected and may count towards the employer’s attendance policy. The employer may also retroactively apply the employee’s PTO, vacation, or sick time to the leave, provided that the employer has a policy requiring employees to use any paid leave before taking unpaid time off.

Enforce Call-In Policy

A common occurrence with employees taking PLO for an extended period of time is that employees will fail to check in with their employer while on leave. This means that an employer would not hear from the employee for weeks, not knowing if the employee will return the day after their approved leave ends or if the employee intends to request additional leave. To avoid this situation, best practice is for employers to first have a call-in policy for employees on a leave of absence. For example, if an employee is approved for leave for six weeks, requiring an employee to call in every day would be excessive; a call-in policy for a leave of absence might require employees to check in every week or every two weeks to report any change in status and the employee’s intent to return to work. Employers should remind employees of the call-in policy and employer expectations when the employee first goes out on leave.

If the employee fails to check in, then employers should enforce their call-in policy. Best practice is for the employer to attempt to contact the employee. This should be in more than one communication method, such as reaching out by email and phone. If the employer does not respond or only responds when the employer contacts them instead of following policy, then the employer may consider corrective action.  

Require Return-to-Work Certification

Senate Bill 69, passed in the 2025 legislative session, allows employers to require return-to-work certification stating that the employee is able to resume work after the end of their PLO leave. Not being able to require such certification had previously been a major concern for employers, as they had no avenue to confirm that an employee was ready to return to work or if additional leave was needed. Additionally, the employer did not know if the employee would have medical restrictions upon their return and would need to make accommodations for the employee.

Now that employers may require certification, best practice is to do so. However, employers should only request return-to-work certification if it is applied consistently to all employees. This means that if an employer requires certification from one employee on PLO, they should require certification from all employees on PLO. Certification should also only be required when an employee is returning from leave for their own serious health condition.

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