Unemployment Insurance

ORS 657.150
Amount of benefits

  • length of employment and wages necessary to qualify for benefits
  • rules

(1)

An individual shall be paid benefits for weeks during the benefit year in an amount that is to be determined by taking into account the individual’s work in subject employment in the base year as provided in this section.
(2)(a) To qualify for benefits an individual must have:

(A)

Worked in subject employment in the base year with total base year wages of $1,000 or more and have total base year wages equal to or in excess of one and one-half times the wages in the highest quarter of the base year; and

(B)

Have earned wages in subject employment equal to six times the individual’s weekly benefit amount in employment for service performed subsequent to the beginning of a preceding benefit year if benefits were paid to the individual for any week in the preceding benefit year.

(b)

If the individual does not meet the requirements of paragraph (a)(A) of this subsection, the individual may qualify for benefits if the individual has worked a minimum of 500 hours in employment subject to this chapter during the base year.

(3)

If the wages paid to an individual are not based upon a fixed period of time or if wages are paid at irregular intervals or in such manner as not to extend regularly over the period of employment, for the purposes of subsections (2) to (5) of this section, the individual’s wages shall be allocated in accordance with rules prescribed by the Director of the Employment Department. Such rules shall, insofar as possible, produce results the same as those that would exist if the individual had been paid wages at regular intervals. The director may adopt rules to attribute hours of work to an individual if the individual is not paid on an hourly basis or if the employer does not report the number of hours worked.
(4)(a) An eligible individual’s weekly benefit amount shall be 1.25 percent of the total wages paid in the individual’s base year. However, such amount shall not be less than the minimum, nor more than the maximum weekly benefit amount.

(b)

The minimum weekly benefit amount shall be 15 percent (0.1500) of the state average weekly covered wage for the preceding calendar year, effective for any benefit year commencing on and after the week that includes July 4, 1975, and the week that includes each July 4 thereafter.

(c)

The maximum weekly benefit amount shall be:

(A)

Fifty-five percent (0.5500) of the state average weekly covered wage for calendar year 1979, effective for any benefit year commencing with and after the week that includes July 4, 1980, and through any benefit year commencing with the week that includes June 27, 1981.

(B)

Fifty-five percent (0.5500) of the state average weekly covered wage for calendar year 1980, effective for any benefit year commencing with and after the week that includes July 4, 1981, through any benefit year commencing with the week that includes September 27, 1981.

(C)

Fifty-eight percent (0.5800) of the state average weekly covered wage for calendar year 1980, effective for any benefit year commencing with and after the week that includes October 4, 1981, through any benefit year commencing with the week that includes June 27, 1982.

(D)

Sixty percent (0.6000) of the state average weekly covered wage for calendar year 1981, effective for any benefit year commencing with and after the week that includes July 4, 1982, through any benefit year commencing with the week that includes June 27, 1983.

(E)

Sixty-four percent (0.6400) of the state average covered weekly wage for the preceding calendar year, effective for any benefit year commencing with and after the week that includes July 4, 1983, and the week that includes each July 4 thereafter.

(d)

All weekly benefit amounts, if not a multiple of $1, shall be computed to the next lower multiple of $1.

(e)

For the purposes of this subsection, the state average weekly covered wage means an amount determined by the Employment Department by dividing the total wages paid by subject employers during the year by 52 times the average monthly employment reported by subject employers for the year.

(5)

Benefits paid to an eligible individual in a benefit year shall not exceed 26 times the individual’s weekly benefit amount, or one-third of the base year’s wages paid, whichever is the lesser. If such amount is not a multiple of $1, it shall be computed to the next lower multiple of $1.

(6)

An eligible unemployed individual who has employment in any week shall have the individual’s weekly benefit amount reduced, but not below zero, by the amount of earnings paid or payable that exceeds the greater of:

(a)

Ten times the minimum hourly wage established by the laws of this state; or

(b)

One-third of the individual’s weekly benefit amount.

(7)

Payment that has been, is or will be paid to an individual for a holiday or vacation shall be considered as earnings in the determination of the amount of benefits payable with respect to the week in which the holiday or vacation falls in the same manner as provided in subsection (6) of this section. However, if payment for the holiday or vacation is paid more than 45 days prior to the holiday or vacation or is delayed more than 45 days following the end of the week in which the holiday or vacation falls, the provisions of this section do not apply and previously reduced benefits shall be adjusted accordingly.

(8)

Payment that has been or is paid to an individual as back pay shall be considered as earnings in the determination of the amount of benefits payable with respect to the period for which the back pay has been or is paid.

(9)

Payment that has been, or will be, made to an individual as a member of a reserve component of the Armed Forces of the United States, including the organized militia of the State of Oregon, for the performance of inactive duty training shall not be considered as earnings in the determination of the amount of benefits payable. [1955 c.655 §15; 1957 c.699 §1; 1959 c.567 §1; 1961 c.211 §1; 1963 c.441 §1; 1967 c.434 §1; 1969 c.569 §1; 1971 c.463 §13; 1971 c.521 §1; 1973 c.146 §1; 1973 c.535 §1; 1975 c.661 §2; 1977 c.670 §1; 1981 c.77 §10; 1981 c.751 §1; 1983 c.51 §1; 1987 c.257 §1; 1989 c.897 §1; 1995 c.104 §1; 1995 c.105 §4; 1995 c.153 §1; 2020 s.s.2 c.1 §§1,3; 2021 c.388 §§5,6]

Notes of Decisions

Where some wages were earned in the base year but not paid until the next year because of illness and then death of petitioner’s employer, those wages could not be considered in computing benefits for the base year. Gordon v. Morgan, 20 Or App 69, 530 P2d 522 (1975)

Where advance payment is compensation for specific vacation period rather than accrued vacation benefit generally, payment is chargeable against unemployment benefits for vacation period rather than first week of unemployment period. Hawkins v. Employment Div., 26 Or App 445, 552 P2d 1325 (1976)

Mere receipt of wages is not equivalent to performance of “weeks of work” within the meaning of this section. Tracy v. Employment Div., 29 Or App 851, 565 P2d 403 (1977)

Evidence was sufficient to establish that claimant had no individual entitlement to work during company’s mandatory shutdown and vacation period and was thus not eligible for benefits under this section. Wilson v. Employment Division, 34 Or App 289, 578 P2d 486 (1978)

Claimants were ineligible to receive unemployment compensation benefits during general plant shutdown because they had elected to take vacation time during that period and received payments therefor from employer. Stanley v. Employment Division, 43 Or App 905, 607 P2d 1195 (1979), Sup Ct review denied

Where claimants received lump sum payment equivalent to holiday pay as part of layoff settlement, such payment was properly considered earnings in weeks in which holidays fell and reduction of benefits in those weeks was proper. Adams v. Emp. Div., 56 Or App 784, 643 P2d 400 (1982), Sup Ct review denied

In determining qualification for unemployment benefits, services of petitioner for remuneration were “employment” under ORS 657.030, even though SAIF paid his wages as part of vocational rehabilitation. White v. Employment Division, 72 Or App 163, 694 P2d 1009 (1985), as modified by 77 Or App 35, 711 P2d 196 (1985)

Where employee handbook made no reference to designated vacation periods and plant’s vacation period had varied from year to year, finding that employer had designated vacation period by employer custom, practice or policy was not supported by substantial evidence. Bergun v. Employment Division, 81 Or App 580, 726 P2d 1202 (1986)

Where employer has shut down during Christmas holiday season for at least 10 years and identifies closure as its official policy in employee handbook, yearly closure is “designated vacation period” under this section and holiday pay paid during this period is considered earnings in determining claimant’s unemployment compensation benefits. Tektronix, Inc. v. Employment Div., 97 Or App 666, 777 P2d 1005 (1989)

Delay in payment of unemployment benefits does not entitle claimant to receive interest for period that benefits were unpaid. Newport Church of the Nazarene v. Hensley, 335 Or 1, 56 P3d 386 (2002)

Source

Last accessed
Mar. 11, 2023

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