Tracking Unpaid Leave

[cosmicmonkey]

The Oregon Sick Leave act requires small employers provide 1 hour of unpaid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. There is a tracking and reporting requirement. Is there a way to provide sick leave accruals without paying out sick leave pay?

[Donnie-M]

@cosmicmonkey I would just offer some advice we do at our company that isn't in oregon.  We "front load" and give 5 paid sick days each year.  These can be taken at any time and are paid out at the end of the year if not used as a "bonus" at Christmas time.  It is an easy way to manage and control time off for sick and would be legal for you in Oregon from what I read.  It would eliminate you doing anything but notifying them quarterly of their balance.

If it is a matter of cost and you are not paying (since you are small), I would just run a report of hours worked each quarter and divide it by 30.  Maybe just keep a simple spreadsheet and give them the total each quarter (per the requirement).  I see you can cap it at 40 hours a year to be taken.  At any time you can run the hours worked report to get the exact amount "earned" for anyone.

[cosmicmonkey]

Thank you Donna, this is a really helpful suggestion. We’ve never provided paid leave but have opted to begin doing so in 2023. This would simplify things.