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The state of Oregon and the city of Portland have instituted a number of new rights and protections for employees in 2013.

Unpaid interns now have virtually the same discrimination protection as paid employees; employees’ and job applicants’ social media accounts now are protected from employers’ view; veterans now have the right to take Veterans Day off if they choose; and in Portland, employees now have up to 40 hours per year of paid sick leave.

Effective Jan. 1, 2014, Oregon will become the first state to require private employers to provide bereavement leave to their employees. The new law, which will become part of the Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA), applies to employers with 25 or more employees who worked for 20 or more workweeks in the year the leave is taken or in the preceding year. To be eligible to take bereavement leave, employees must have worked for a covered employer for 180 days immediately preceding the date that the requested leave begins and must have worked an average of at least 25 hours per week during that period.

Eligible employees may take up to two weeks of leave per death of a family member, up to a maximum of 12 weeks in a 12-month period. The purpose of the leave can include making funeral arrangements, attending a funeral or memorial service, or grieving. Family members include the employee’s spouse, same-sex domestic partner, child, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, or grandchild, or the same family members of the employee’s spouse or same-sex domestic partner.

Under the law, an employee who wishes to take bereavement leave must do so within 60 days of receiving notification of a family member’s death. The employee is not required to give prior notice to the employer, but oral notice must be provided within 24 hours of beginning leave and written notice must be given to the employer within three days of returning to work. However, unlike other types of leave under OFLA, an employer may not reduce the leave time if the employee fails to give notice.

If more than one family member dies during a one-year period, the employer may not require the leave periods to run concurrently. Also, unlike other types of leave under OFLA, if an employee’s spouse or domestic partner works for the same employer, the employees may take bereavement leave at the same time. The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries is developing rules to implement the law.

Employers should review their handbooks, policies, procedures and practices to ensure compliance with the new law. Employers also should consider training their managers and supervisors on bereavement and other leave requirements under OFLA.

Human Resource professionals who track leave should be aware that the new bereavement law does not reduce an employee’s entitlement to leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. In other words, bereavement leave will not, typically, run concurrently with FMLA leave.

Veterans to get Veterans Day off

An Oregon law that took effect this year entitles veterans who are scheduled to work on Veterans Day to take the day off. Employees are eligible if they served in the military for six consecutive months and were honorably discharged, or served fewer than six months but were discharged because of a service-connected disability. Employees with military service in the Reserve or National Guard do not qualify unless they were deployed or served on active duty for at least six consecutive months.

An eligible employee seeking Veterans Day off must make the request at least 21 days in advance. The employer must, in turn, inform the employee within 14 days of Veterans Day whether the request has been granted or denied. An employer may deny the requested time off only if granting it would cause a significant operational disruption or undue hardship.

If the employee’s request is denied, the employer must either deny time off to all employees who request it, or deny time off to the minimum number of employees needed to avoid the disruption or hardship. If the eligible employee is not granted the requested day off, the employer must provide a replacement day off before the following Veterans Day.

The employer may require the employee to provide documentation showing that the employee is an eligible veteran, and it is up to the employer whether the time off is paid or unpaid.

Veterans Day is Nov. 11, and the law is in effect. Employers should:

• Assess business and operational needs, and determine whether to grant the time off if requests are made. If the decision is made to not grant the time off, be sure to identify how granting it would be a significant operational disruption or undue hardship. Also, determine if time off must be denied to all veterans or to a minimum number. If it is the latter, determine how those requests will be handled fairly.

• Determine whether to require documentation proving eligibility.

• Determine whether the day off will be paid or unpaid.

• Train managers and supervisors in the new law and company policies.

Don Stait is Special Counsel in Littler Mendelson’s Portland office. Contact him at 503-889-8874 or [email protected].