Public-sector employers can't avoid Oregon sick leave law

Oregon's paid sick leave law doesn't require local governments to implement an "unfunded program" in violation of the state's constitution, the Oregon Supreme Court recently ruled.

Facts and lower court findings

In 2015, Oregon enacted a paid sick leave law requiring both public and private-sector employers with 10 or more employees to provide paid sick leave of up to 40 hours per year. In a lawsuit, nine Oregon counties challenged the law's application to public-sector employers in a lawsuit.

The counties sought to block the enforcement of the sick leave law against them because they said it violated Article XI, Section 15, of the Oregon Constitution, which requires the legislature to provide funding to local governments when it requires them to establish new "programs" or increase the level of services to existing programs. The funding requirement applies, however, only if a local government would have to spend more than one-hundredth of one percent of its annual budget to implement the program.

Both parties asked the trial court to decide the matter without a trial. The lower court ruled in the counties' favor, concluding the paid sick leave law was an unfunded program. The court then reconsidered the decision and found that of the nine counties filing suit, only three met the required cost threshold. Those three counties were granted judgment in their favor while the remaining counties were dismissed.