As you are probably aware, Oregon has ordered all public schools to close through March 31 as a step in trying to contain the spread of coronavirus. We wanted to share a reminder that the state’s sick leave law allows employees to use accrued sick leave for instances such as this. Please see the specific language from the law below.  

Employees may use sick leave in the event of a public health emergency, including but not limited to:

  • Closure of the employee’s place of business, or the school or place of care of the employee’s child, by order of a public official due to a public health emergency;
  • A determination by a lawful public health authority or a health care provider that the presence of the employee or the family member of the employee in the community would jeopardize the health of others; or
  • The exclusion of the employee from the workplace under any law or rule that requires the employer to exclude the employee from the workplace for health reasons; 

In addition, employees may inquire about the use of Oregon Family Leave (OFLA) if/when they or a family member are ill with the coronavirus or if their child’s school has been closed or their workplace is closed.   

Xenium has received legal guidance that OFLA protections are a bit less clear in these situations, however, several agencies have already taken the position that the current coronavirus situation does trigger OFLA protection.  We’ve also been told that both the federal and state governments are currently working on emergency legislation that would mandate the protection and create some sort of subsidy for impacted employers (though nothing is near official). 

For now, if employees are inquiring about how to handle time off needs based on school closures, we recommend:

  1. Allow the employee to exhaust paid sick leave;
  2. Agree to allow the employee to start the OFLA process, but make clear the employer is researching what protections it can provide and that we will need to evaluate the amount of unpaid leave it can provide before it needs to look into replacing the position. 

As we’re all aware, this situation is very fluid and federal and state government responses and guidance are rapidly changing as well. Xenium’s guidance will continue to be focused on using a common-sense approach and focusing on being as transparent and responsive to the facts of each unique situation as we can be with clients and their employees. We will all need to be flexible in our approach as more information becomes available.  We will continue to share additional information about federal and state guidelines as we receive it. Please reach out with any questions you have.