Oregon program
Sick hours you can use for your child
Oregon sick time lets you use earned hours for your child's illness or medical appointments.
What it is
Oregon sick time lets you use earned hours for your child's illness or medical appointments.
Sick hours can help with short absences and appointments. Oregon protects qualifying sick time even at small employers where the time is unpaid. Your available balance and length of employment decide what you can use.
Eligibility rules
- Most Oregon employees receive protected sick time across employer sizes, but specific worker and employment-arrangement exceptions apply. Payroll or BOLI can confirm coverage rather than assuming every worker is included.
- Covered uses include a family member's illness, injury, mental illness and medical visits.
What you get
- Up to 40 hours a year for qualifying sick-time needs.
- Paid time at employers with at least 10 employees, or 6 with a Portland location.
- Protected unpaid time at smaller employers.
What the help includes
- Accrual is at least 1 hour per 30 worked, or the equivalent 1⅓ per 40. An accrual system generally carries up to 40 unused hours, with a permitted total bank cap of 80. A lawful annual frontload can avoid further accrual and carryover.
If you decide to apply
- Ask payroll for your earned sick-time balance and the workplace's request process.
- Have the appointment or care dates ready so HR can explain which hours are available.
Employer payroll; Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries sick-time information. · Official page ↗
After you ask
- Your employer confirms the balance, whether it is paid and how it will record the absence.
Good to know
Use normally begins on your 91st calendar day of employment. Employers may let you earn hours over time or provide an allowed upfront bank.
Other details
- Sick time is a separate conversation from longer Paid Leave Oregon and FMLA absences. Payroll can explain how employer pay is designated.
Official sources
“How many sick hours could I use for our child's care, and would they be paid? What are the tradeoffs with other leave, and could you help me request the right hours?”
Why I’m asking: I want to know how shorter appointments and care days can fit into the time I have earned.
More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules
Who does what
The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.
You
Ask for the balance and use the hours for appointment days.
Your social worker
Human resources reports the accrued balance.
The care team
Records and letters when the application asks for them.
- Who decides
- The employer; the Bureau of Labor and Industries handles complaints.
- Ask HR
- “Can you tell me my accrued Oregon sick time balance, and confirm I can use it for my child's appointments?”
How to apply
First step: Ask human resources for your accrued sick-time balance in writing.
- Ask human resources for your accrued sick-time balance in writing.
- Use it for clinic days rather than spending a block of family leave on an afternoon.
Official application / program page ↗
Where it starts: Ask the employer for your accrued sick-time balance in writing.
What to gather
- Your start date
- The employer's size and whether they have a Portland location
How long: Available after 90 days of employment.
What a yes looks like
A balance in hours on your pay stub or from human resources.
What a no looks like, and the next move
If you are told you have none, ask for the accrual record in writing.
Watch out
- Under 10 employees, the time is protected but not paid.
- Cities cannot add a better local rule; the state law preempts them.
The numbers and the rules
The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.
What it is worth
One hour for every 30 worked, up to 40 hours a year, usable for a family member. Paid at 10 or more employees, or 6 with a Portland location.
- $40/year — Hours of sick time a year
- $30 — Hours worked for each hour of sick time
- $10 — Employee count for paid sick time
- $6 — Employee count for paid sick time with a Portland location
- $90 — Days of employment before you can use it
Legal protection: Protected time off even where it is unpaid · Usable for a family member's illness, injury, mental illness or doctor visit
What it costs the family: None.
The eligibility facts, as published
- Employer
- Broad Oregon worker coverage with specified exclusions; paid at 10 Oregon employees or six when the employer has a Portland location, protected unpaid time below those thresholds. Federal workers and other statutory exceptions need checking.
- Tenure
- usable after 90 days of employment
The trap: Under 10 employees the hours are protected but unpaid, so plan around that. Cities cannot add their own rule; the state law preempts local ones.
Where I read this
- BOLI — Sick time — Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, read September 10, 2026
- ORS chapter 653: Minimum wages and sick time — Oregon Legislature, read September 10, 2026