Jan. 1 changes to sick leave law don’t affect payroll reporting

You may have heard that changes made to Oregon's sick leave law went into effect on January 1. Those changes do not affect payroll reporting for workers' comp policies.

The changes

Oregon was the fourth state to enact mandatory paid sick leave. The law requires employers to provide up to 40 hours of sick leave to employees per year, and requires sick leave accruals for all employees (including temporary employees and working retirees). Employees will accrue one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of 40 hours.

Payroll reporting

Sick pay has always been subject payroll in Oregon (in other words, you're required to report it). See the "Reporting payroll" section on saif.com for an explanation of what you need, and don't need, to report.

Paid time off (PTO) is also subject payroll, unless the policyholder tracks preplanned vacation time separately. You can find more about PTO in the "What to report" page in that same section.

And, as always, if our website doesn't answer your questions, just give us a call at 800.285.8525.