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January 18, 2024
Effective January 1, 2024, Oregon expanded its Family Leave Act. Employers with at least six employees in Oregon are required to offer leaves of absence and reasonable safety accommodations to employees who are victims of bias. See 2023 Ore. HB 3443.
The law extends protected leave to victims of bias – that is, individuals who have been targeted due to their race, color, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or national origin and have been subjected to a crime due to the perpetrator’s perception of those characteristics.
Leaves of Absence
Employees may take reasonable leave related to domestic violence, harassment, sexual assault, stalking, and now bias for the following purposes:
When feasible, employees must give their employers reasonable advance notice of leave.
Employers may require employees to provide documentation that verifies that they took leave for a permissible purpose.
Reasonable Safety Accommodations
Under the amended law, employers also must provide reasonable safety accommodations to employees who are victims of bias. “Reasonable safety accommodations” may include, but are not limited to, a transfer, reassignment, modified schedule, use of available paid leave from employment, unpaid leave from employment, changed work telephone number, changed work station, installed lock, or safety procedure.
Employer Takeaways
Employers should update their leave of absence policies to include bias victims and prepare to engage in the interactive process with employees who may seek a safety accommodation.
*Special thanks to Ava Petrellese, our Paralegal, for her contributions to this article.
The author of this article, Patricia Tsipras, is a member of the Bar of Pennsylvania. This article is designed to provide one perspective regarding recent legal developments, and is not intended to serve as legal advice in Oregon, Pennsylvania, or any other jurisdiction, nor does it establish an attorney-client relationship with any reader of the article where one does not exist. Always consult an attorney with specific legal issues.
