[5]By Oregon Farm Bureau [6],
On Wednesday, March 8, at 3:00 PM in Hearing Room A, the Senate Workforce Committee will hold a public hearing on Farm Bureau’s bill to clarify the Oregon Sick Time law. SB 779 [7] (and HB 2936 [8]) provides a necessary fix for family businesses that are trying to comply with Oregon Sick Time.
SB 779 clarifies that business owners and their family members are NOT counted as employees for the purposes of determining whether a small business is required to provide paid sick leave versus unpaid sick leave. As a reminder, businesses in Oregon with 10+ employees (6+ in Portland) are required to provide paid sick time, while businesses with fewer than 10 must provide unpaid sick leave. SB 779 is necessary to assist small and mid-sized businesses with compliance–many of whom do not realize that they are above the 10-employee threshold due to the way employees are calculated.