71st OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2001 Regular Session
NOTE: Matter within { + braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within { - braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
{ + braces and plus signs + } .
LC 606
Minority Report
B-Engrossed
Senate Bill 354
Ordered by the House May 14
Including Senate Amendments dated April 12 and House Minority
Report Amendments dated May 14
Sponsored by nonconcurring members of the House Committee on
Business, Labor, and Consumer Affairs: Representatives
ROSENBAUM, MERKLEY, V WALKER
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure.
Permits certain employers to submit annual, rather than
quarterly, reports of employee hours worked and workers'
compensation assessments due.
{ + Extends unemployment benefit eligibility to parent on
leave or who left employment to be with child during first year
of life or first year following placement for adoption. Provides
that benefits paid may not be charged to parent's employer. + }
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to employment; creating new provisions; and amending ORS
656.506.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. ORS 656.506 is amended to read:
656.506. (1) As used in this section:
(a) 'Employee' means a subject worker as defined in ORS 656.005
(28).
(b) 'Employer' means a subject employer as defined in ORS
656.005 (27).
(2) Every employer shall retain from the moneys earned by all
employees an amount determined by the Director of the Department
of Consumer and Business Services for each hour or part of an
hour the employee is employed and pay the money retained in the
manner and at such intervals as the Director of the Department of
Consumer and Business Services shall direct.
(3) In addition to all moneys retained under subsection (2) of
this section, the director shall assess each employer an amount
equal to that assessed pursuant to subsection (2) of this
section. The assessment shall be paid in such manner and at such
intervals as the director may direct.
(4) Moneys collected pursuant to subsections (2) and (3) of
this section, and any accrued cash balances, shall be deposited
by the Department of Consumer and Business Services into the
Workers' Benefit Fund. Subject to the limitations in subsections
(2) and (3) of this section, the amount of the hourly assessments
provided in subsections (2) and (3) of this section annually may
be adjusted to meet the needs of the Workers' Benefit Fund for
the expenditures of the department in carrying out its functions
and duties pursuant to subsection (7) of this section and ORS
656.622, 656.625, 656.628 and 656.630. Factors to be considered
in making such adjustment of the assessments shall include, but
not be limited to, the cash balance as determined by the director
and estimated expenditures and revenues of the Workers' Benefit
Fund.
(5) It is the intent of the Legislative Assembly that the
department set rates for the collection of assessments pursuant
to subsections (2) and (3) of this section in a manner so that at
the end of the period for which the rates shall be effective, the
cash balance shall be an amount approximating 12 months of
projected expenditures from the Workers' Benefit Fund in regard
to its functions and duties under subsection (7) of this section
and ORS 656.622, 656.625, 656.628 and 656.630, in a manner that
minimizes the volatility of the rates assessed. The department
may set the assessment rate at a higher level if the department
determines that a higher rate is necessary to avoid unintentional
program or benefit reductions in the time period immediately
following the period for which the rate is being set.
(6) Every employer required to pay the assessments referred to
in this section shall make and file a { - quarterly - } report
of employee hours worked and amounts due under this section upon
a combined { - quarterly - } report form prescribed by the
Department of Revenue. The report shall be filed with the
Department of Revenue { + :
(a) + } At the times and in the manner prescribed in ORS
316.168 and 316.171 { + ; or
(b) Annually as required or allowed pursuant to ORS 316.197 or
657.570 + }.
(7) There is established a Retroactive Program for the purpose
of providing increased benefits to claimants or beneficiaries
eligible to receive compensation under the benefit schedules of
ORS 656.204, 656.206, 656.208 and 656.210 which are lower than
currently being paid for like injuries. However, benefits payable
under ORS 656.210 shall not be increased by the Retroactive
Program for claimants whose injury occurred on or after April 1,
1974. Notwithstanding the formulas for computing benefits
provided in ORS 656.204, 656.206, 656.208 and 656.210, the
increased benefits payable under this subsection shall be in such
amount as the director considers appropriate. The director
annually shall compute the amount which may be available during
the succeeding year for payment of such increased benefits and
determine the level of benefits to be paid during such year. If,
during such year, it is determined by the director that there are
insufficient funds to increase benefits to the level fixed by the
director, the director may reduce the level of benefits payable
under this subsection. The increase in benefits to workers shall
be payable in the first instance by the insurer or self-insured
employer subject to reimbursement from the Workers' Benefit Fund
by the director. If the insurer is a member of the Oregon
Insurance Guaranty Association and becomes insolvent and the
Oregon Insurance Guaranty Association assumes the insurer's
obligations to pay covered claims of subject workers, including
Retroactive Program benefits, such benefits shall be payable in
the first instance by the Oregon Insurance Guaranty Association,
subject to reimbursement from the Workers' Benefit Fund by the
director.
SECTION 2. { + Section 3 of this 2001 Act is added to and made
a part of ORS chapter 657. + }
SECTION 3. { + (1) As used in this section:
(a) 'Parent' means an individual who is the biological or legal
parent of a child or who has custody of a child pending the
adoption of the child.
(b) 'Placement for adoption' means the time a parent becomes
responsible for a child pending adoption in accordance with ORS
109.305 to 109.410.
(2) A parent on a leave of absence from the parent's employer
or who left employment to be with the parent's child during the
first year of life, or during the first year following placement
for adoption of a child 18 years of age or younger with the
parent, may not be denied benefits under provisions of this
chapter relating to voluntarily leaving employment, availability
for work, inability to work or failure to actively seek work.
(3) The reduction of the amount of benefits under ORS 657.150
because of receipt of disqualifying income applies to payments
under this section. In addition, the following payments shall
cause a reduction in the amount of benefits:
(a) Any payment from the employer resulting from a birth or
placement for adoption described in subsection (2) of this
section; and
(b) Any payment resulting from a birth or placement for
adoption described in subsection (2) of this section from a
disability insurance plan contributed to by an employer, in
proportion to the employer's contribution to the plan.
(4) Benefits with respect to any birth or placement for
adoption are payable to a parent under this section for a maximum
of 12 weeks.
(5) An employer shall post at each site operated by the
employer, in a conspicuous place accessible to all employees,
information relating to the availability of birth and adoption
unemployment benefits.
(6) Any benefits paid under this section may not be charged to
the account of the parent's employer.
(7)(a) The Director of the Employment Department shall apply
this section in a manner consistent with regulations issued by
the United States Department of Labor.
(b) The director shall adopt rules to administer this
section. + }
SECTION 4. { + Section 3 of this 2001 Act applies only to
claims for benefits made on or after the effective date of this
2001 Act. + }
----------