Paid Leave Oregon Bulletin

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March spotlight: Paid Leave Oregon celebrates six-month anniversary

We’re excited to share that on March 4, we made it to the six-month anniversary since Paid Leave benefits began. In the first six months, Paid Leave Oregon paid out $306.6 million, which is almost one-third of a billion dollars in benefits for Oregonians.

During this time, Paid Leave staff took or made 228,640 calls and answered 144,654 emails. They verified 73,092 applications and approved 3,263 equivalent plans.    

While we are proud of these numbers, they don’t reflect the real-life impact our program has had on Oregonians. Thanks to Paid Leave, a cashier can take time to bond with their newborn baby, a dental hygienist can take time to care for their parent with a new dementia diagnosis, a construction worker can take time to recover from a back injury, and an accountant who is a survivor of domestic violence can take the time they need to find a safer situation for them and their children.

New! Dashboard and application timeline

Last week, we rolled out two new data sets – our dashboard and our application timeline.

Data Dashboard

The first is our new data dashboard which includes:

• Identity (ID) Verified Claims – The number of claims received to date from claimants who have been confirmed through the Paid Leave Oregon ID verification process.
• ID Verified Claims Processed – The number of verified claims to date that have been resolved by either approving or denying the claim.
• ID Verified Claims cleared for Payment – The number of verified claims to date that have been approved as eligible and cleared for benefit payments.
• Benefits Paid – Benefits paid from the start of the program to date.
• Claimants Paid – Total number of people to date who have received benefit payments (this number is less than the number of claims cleared for payment, because one person may have multiple Paid Leave Oregon claims).
• Contact Us Average Response – The average number of days that it took us to respond to someone who sent us an electronic communication through either our email or our Contact Us form. This will be a running average of the first four of the previous five weeks. We are excluding the most recent week because that data won’t be available at the time of reporting. 
• Average Call Wait Time – The average time a person waited on the phone to speak to a staff member during the week.
• Call Volume – The total number of calls we received during the week.

You can see these updated data points on the Employment Department’s dashboard.

Application Timeline

The second data set describes the average number of days it takes for each part of the paid leave application process. Currently, the average is 29 days from online application to first benefit payment. This is important information for new applicants to know what to expect when they apply. 

• Once they create an account, it’s taking people an average of 25 minutes to complete the Paid Leave Oregon application using Frances Online, either from a personal computer or mobile device,
• To protect claimants’ benefits from people who may have stolen someone’s information, we need to verify each applicant’s identity. It’s taking folks about four days, on average, to get through the identity verification process. While this is an average, we know it takes longer for some people who might need to give us more information to complete the process.
• We also must notify the applicant’s employer that an employee has applied for Paid Leave and to confirm they provided their employer with the appropriate notice. We give employers ten business days to respond. If they don’t, we move the claim forward without their input.
• We review the application to make sure the person is eligible for benefits. Many rules apply to the program, and we must make sure the person qualifies. On average, this takes about 13 days, often involving some back-and-forth communication with the applicant.
• Once we approve a claim, we notify the state’s bank, which then sends the money to the person’s bank. On average this takes two banking days. It is then dependent upon each person’s bank to get payment to their account or debit card for them to receive their first benefit payment.

We have posted this timeline on the Paid Leave Oregon website on the “What to expect after you apply” page. 

Going forward, we will review this data regularly to measure our performance, and we will continue to listen and learn from our customers so that we can adjust, adapt, and improve our processes.

New! Automated claim-by-phone system for intermittent claims

If you don't have regular internet access and you have an intermittent claim, try our new, automated claim-by-phone system at 833-854-1122.

You will need the following items to use the system:

1. Your Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN)
2. A personal identification number (PIN)

If you don’t already have a PIN for the claim-by-phone system, you can create one on Frances Online, or call us at 833-854-0166, and a customer care specialist can help you.

This claim-by-phone line is ONLY for weekly filing if you have an intermittent claim. You can’t file an initial claim by calling this phone number.

Reminder: Customers with intermittent leave must file weekly

What is intermittent leave?

Intermittent leave means that you occasionally take days or weeks of paid leave between the start date and end date of your claim, instead of taking all your leave at once. If you are on intermittent leave, you also work at your job in between the start and end dates of your claim. You could also have two paid leave claims, for different qualifying reasons, during the same time frame.

For example, someone may use intermittent paid leave to get medical treatment for cancer. The person may use paid leave on Mondays and Tuesdays for chemotherapy, and then work the rest of the week. The person in this example would use intermittent leave for the duration of their chemotherapy.

While you are taking intermittent leave, you must file each week to receive your benefits. You can easily file for your weekly benefits by either:

1. Using your Frances Online account or
2. Using the claim-by-phone system at 833-854-1122.

Legislative Update – Bills related to Paid Leave

During the 2024 Legislative Session, the Legislature passed four main bills related to Paid Leave.

SB 1514

This bill allows the director of the Oregon Employment Department (OED) to make changes to how we calculate benefits and the amount of leave available to claimants if the Paid Leave Trust Fund is insolvent. Insolvent means that there aren’t enough funds to cover six months of expenses. The intent is for the director to make changes to keep the Paid Leave Trust Fund solvent. This means that the fund has enough money to pay at least six months of expenses.

SB 1515

This bill covers three broad categories:

1. Paid Leave must create three reports by Sept. 15, 2024, for an interim legislative committee.
2. Technical fixes that include how Tribal governments are recognized, use of paid time off with Paid Leave benefits, garnishment of benefit payments, updates regarding Paid Leave and Workers’ Compensation and family leave definition expansion.
3. Changes to align Paid Leave and the Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA).

SB 1595

This bill changes the garnishment rules that OED must follow when trying to collect money from claimants.

HB 4156

This bill expands the definition of stalking.

News and Events

Come visit Paid Leave Oregon staff at an event close to you. Look for our table and come say hello. We are excited to meet you and answer your questions. Please check out the "News and events" web page for the full list.

Portland: Community and Family Resource Fair at Cherry Park Elementary School, April 19, from 3 to 6 p.m.

Wilsonville: Small Business Summit, April 3, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Virtual: Oregon BOLI and Paid Leave Oregon Present - Paid Leave Oregon, the Impact on Oregon Sick Time, Accrued Leave and OFLA – Webinar, April 8, from 10 a.m. to noon

Contact Paid Leave Oregon

Form:  Contact Us
Email: PaidLeave@Oregon.gov
Call: 833-854-0166 (toll-free)