City Of Portland Sick Leave Ordinance Rules
** New (12/7/13) **
Portland's Protected Sick Time law goes into effect January 1, 2014.
For full details and resources to help you understand and follow the regulations, please see the main web site, www.portlandoregon.gov/sicktime
Summary:
All employers with employees working within the city of Portland will need to comply with the requirements of the Protected Sick Time law, including providing notice to employees of the business policies and procedures regarding notification and use of sick time. You may download and print the following poster (in Word or pdf) and letter template (in Word or pdf, or in Spanish in Word or pdf) for employee notification. See links below for more information about the Code, Administrative Rules, and information for employees.
To assist employers in the implementation of the new Sick Time ordinance, the City of Portland and the Bureau of Labor and Industries will be offering trainings and technical assistance on the following dates/locations:
Wednesday, December 11th, 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM, The Portland Building – Second Floor Auditorium, 1120 SW 5th Ave.
Wednesday, December 18th, 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM, The Portland Oregon State Building – Room 1A, 800 NE Oregon St.
Friday, January 3, 2014, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM, The Portland Building– Second Floor Auditorium, 1120 SW 5th Ave.
Registration is encouraged, but not required. If the training rooms reach seating capacity, then people who have not registered will be asked to return to a later training. To register by email, please send your contact information to SickTimeInfo@PortlandOregon.gov, or call 503-823-3994 and leave a message with your name, email and phone number.
Background:
On March 13, the Portland City Council passed an historic ordinance supporting human rights in the United States of America, and the health of businesses and employees here in Portland. This year, up to 40% of employees in Portland don't receive even a single day of paid sick leave. It is a public health concern when people who are sick with the flu have to choose between staying home to recover, and being able to pay their bills. Many employees choose to work sick so they can continue to provide for their families. These considerations led to the unanimous adoption by the Portland City Council of the Protected Sick Time ordinance, and the regulations in Chapter 9 in Portland City Code.
The 2013 State Legislature decided not to set statewide standards for Paid Sick Leave, via HB 3390 and SB 801. The Legislature has set up a Task Force to review the issue before the 2014 session. As promised, Portland will move forward with implementing local regulations in January 2014.
A public process to adopt Administrative Rules began on August 5th, with notice of the posting of the Draft Rules on August 15th. The Public Comment period was open for 21 days, through September 6th. The City Attorney's office published the Administrative Rules on November 1. See links below.
Portland's regulations will go into effect January 1, 2014.