Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 9, September 1, 2024
(1) In lieu
of awarding at least one hour of sick time for every 30 hours an employee
works, an employer may satisfy its obligations under ORS
653.606(1) and
these rules by front-loading at least 40 hours of sick time or time off at the
beginning of each year used to calculate the accrual and usage of sick time or
time off; or, if the employer invokes the "undue hardship" exception of ORS
653.621(1)(b)
and requires its employees to use sick time in minimum increments of more than
1 hour, by front-loading 56 hours of sick time or time off at the beginning of
each year used to calculate the accrual and usage of sick time or time off.
(a) "Front-load," except as provided in
paragraph (b) of this subsection, means to assign and make available a certain
number of hours of sick time to an employee as soon as the employee becomes
eligible to use sick time and on the first day of the immediate subsequent
year, without regard to an accrual rate.
(b) For employees employed by an employer for
less than a full year, "front-load" means to assign and make available to an
employee as soon as the employee becomes eligible to use sick time a number of
hours of sick time that is the pro rata percentage of the hours to which the
employee would be entitled for an entire year based on the number of hours the
employee was actually employed by the employer for the year. For example, if an
employer uses the calendar year to calculate usage of sick time or time off,
and, on January 1 of each year, regularly front-loads 40 hours of sick time or
time off for employees regularly scheduled to work 40 hours per week or more,
then the employer, as soon as the employee becomes eligible to use sick time,
would front-load 20 hours of sick time or time off to an employee whose first
day of employment is July 1 and who is regularly scheduled to work 40 hours per
week.
(2) An employer
may award sick time on an accrual basis for certain classes of employees while
front-loading sick time hours for other classes of employees, as long as any
distinctions the employer makes in how it awards sick time to different classes
of employees are based on customary employment classifications established by
the employer for reasons unrelated to its obligation to provide sick time. For
example, an employer may award sick time on an accrual basis for employees paid
on an hourly wage basis, while front-loading sick time for employees paid on a
salary basis, if it customarily maintains different employment classifications
for hourly and salaried employees. Similarly, an employer may award sick time
on an accrual basis for part-time or temporary employees, while front-loading
sick time for full-time employees, if it customarily maintains different
employment classifications for part-time, temporary, and full-time
employees.
(3)
(a) An employer may adopt a system whereby it
awards sick time or time off on an accrual basis for employees until they have
worked for the employer for a designated length of time, while front-loading
sick time or time off for all employees in similar job classifications once
they have achieved that designated length of service. For example, an employer
may adopt a system whereby hourly employees are awarded sick time or time off
on an accrual basis from their start date until the beginning of the year that
the employer uses to calculate the accrual and usage of sick time, or the first
such year that follows the first anniversary of the employee's initial
employment.
(b) When an employer
converts an employee from an accrual-based system to a system in which it
front-loads the employee's sick time or time off, and the employee has accrued
less than 40 hours of sick time or time off on the date of the change (or less
than 56 hours, if the employer requires sick time to be taken in minimum
increments of more than one hour but no more than four hours under the undue
hardship exception set forth in ORS
653.621(1)(b)),
the employer satisfies the requirements of ORS
653.606(1) by
front-loading the sum of:
(a) the amount of
hours the employee has accrued under the employee's accrual system; and
(b) the difference between 40
hours (or 56 hours, if the employer requires sick time to be taken in minimum
increments of four hours under the undue hardship exception set forth in ORS
653.621(1)(b))
and that amount of accrued hours.
(c) If an employee has accrued more than 40
hours of sick time or time off on the date that an employer converts from an
accrual system to a front-loading system for awarding the employee sick time or
time off (or more than 56 hours, if the employer requires sick time to be taken
in minimum increments of more than one hour but no more than four hours under
the undue hardship exception set forth in ORS
653.621(1)(b)),
the employer may not front-load an amount of hours that is less than the amount
of hours the employee has already accrued.
(4) An employer may front-load by paying
employees for at least 40 hours of sick time at the beginning of the year and
allowing the employee to take at least 40 hours of sick time during the year.
Sick time taken after the initial front-load payment does not have to be paid
at the time sick time is taken.
Statutory/Other Authority: ORS
653.601-653.661 & ORS 651
Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS
653.601-653.661 & OL Ch. 520
(2017)
