OAR 440-150-0001: Quarantine Time Loss Program

(1) Definitions. (a) “Employee” means a person working in Oregon and who was employed when they were directed to quarantine or isolate by a public health official or health care provider due to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and isolating while seeking medical diagnosis, and who is subject to income tax withholding requirements under ORS 316.162. (b) “Department” means the Department of Consumer and Business Services. (c) “Director” means the director of the Department. (d) “Health care provider” has the meaning given that term in ORS 433.443(1)(b). (e) “Local public health authority” has the meaning given that term in ORS 431.003. (f) “Quarantine” has the meaning given that term in ORS 433.001. (g) “Isolation or isolate” has the meaning given that term in ORS 433.001. (h) “Public health officer” means an individual employed by or under contract with a state or local public health authority or a tribe who has the authority to direct or order that an individual quarantine or isolate. (i) “State public health authority” means the Oregon Health Authority, Public Health Division. (j) “Tribe” means a federally recognized Oregon tribe. (k) “Qualified employee” means an employee eligible to receive quarantine time loss payments under sections (2) and (3) of this administrative rule. (2) Quarantine Time Loss Payments: (a) A qualified employee may claim quarantine time loss payments of $120 per day, up to 10 days. (b) Payments are intended to reimburse the qualified employee for time missed when the employee would otherwise have worked. (A) If an employee would otherwise have been scheduled to work for part of a day, it shall be considered a whole day scheduled for work for purposes of reimbursement under this section. (B) A standard work week is five days a week, eight hours a day totaling 40 hours a week. Employees working a non-standard work week will calculate the hours scheduled for the non-standard work week and convert the days otherwise scheduled for work to a standard work week. (3) Qualifications. To qualify for Quarantine Time Loss payments, an employee must attest: (a) To being directed by a public health officer or health care provider to quarantine or isolate, or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and isolating while seeking medical diagnosis; (b) To being in isolation or quarantine on or after the date the program begins; (c) To the employee’s inability to work because the employee is in quarantine or isolated pursuant to section (3)(a) of this rule; (d) That the employee is not currently receiving or seeking time loss payments through an active worker’s compensation claim related to the employee’s COVID-19 status covering the same time period for which the employee is seeking payment under this rule; (e) That the employee is not seeking or receiving unemployment benefits covering the same time period for which the employee is seeking payment under this rule; (f) That the employee is not seeking or receiving any other benefit for time lost due to isolation or quarantine from any other Oregon program, or any other state’s quarantine time loss program, or similar program, covering the same time period for which the employee is seeking payment under this rule; (g) That the employee is not seeking or receiving vacation leave, sick leave or any other form of paid leave provided by the employer covering the same time period for which the employee is seeking payment under this rule; (h) That the employee is not furloughed or laid-off from the employer covering the same time period for which the employee is seeking payment under this rule; (i) That the employee: (A) Had federal adjusted gross income of less than $60,000 in tax year 2019 or tax year 2020 for individual filing status ($120,000 federal adjusted gross income if filing joint filing status), as shown on a filed 2019 or 2020 Oregon return, and, based on income received in tax year 2020 or tax year 2021 as of the date of application, estimates gross income of less than $60,000 for individual filing status ($120,000 gross income if filing joint filing status); (B) Had federal adjusted gross income greater than $60,000 in tax year 2019 or tax year 2020 for individual filing status ($120,000 federal adjusted gross income if filing joint filing status) and, based on income received in tax year 2020 or tax year 2021 as of the date of application, estimates gross income of less than $60,000 in tax year 2020 or tax year 2021 for individual filing status ($120,000 gross income if filing joint filing status); or (C) Was not required to file an Oregon income tax return for tax year 2019 or tax year 2020, and, based on income received in tax year 2020 or tax year 2021 as of the date of application, estimates gross income of less than $60,000 for individual filing status ($120,000 gross income if filing joint filing status); (j) That the employee has provided notice to the employee’s employer consistent with other leave policies of the employer; and (k) To one or more of the following: (A) The employee’s employer(s) claimed exemption from the paid emergency COVID-19 sick leave provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (FFCRA) and has provided no COVID-19 sick leave benefits for the calendar year 2020; (B) The employee’s employer(s) is not subject to the provisions of the FFCRA and has provided no COVID-19 sick leave benefits for the calendar year 2020; or (C) The employee has exhausted any COVID-19 sick leave benefits any of the employee’s employers provided for quarantine or isolation purposes during calendar year 2020; or (D) The employee’s employer has provided no COVID-19 sick leave benefits for the calendar year 2021. (4) Application. (a) A qualifying employee must apply to the Department of Consumer and Business Services, in the time, form and manner provided by the department and must: (A) Identify the public health officer or health care provider issuing the directive to isolate or quarantine and; (B) List the period of isolation or quarantine in the application; (C) Provide the name of all employers for which Quarantine Time Loss payments are requested in the application; (D) Authorize the release of any information from a state or local public health authority, tribe, or health care provider necessary to verify information in the application; and (E) Agree to reimburse the State of Oregon the amount of any Quarantine Time Loss payments received, if the Department of Consumer and Business Services determines upon audit that the information contained in the employee’s application was inaccurate, false or fraudulent, the employee exceeded the income thresholds for the calendar year, or otherwise did not meet the qualifications to which the employee attested in the application. (b) An employee whose claim has been denied because the department determined that the employee is not a qualifying employee due to an incomplete application may reapply for program benefits. An employee whose application is denied due to exceeding income limits, or other reasons, will not be accepted. (5) Administration of the Quarantine Time Loss Program. (a) The Oregon Legislature appropriated $30 million dollars to fund the Quarantine Time Loss program to be administered by the Department of Consumer and Business Services. The funds must be expended not later than December 31, 2021, under federal law.. (b) The Department of Consumer and Business Services can accept additional funding from the Oregon Legislature for program administration purposes. (c) Claims for the Quarantine Time Loss program will be paid in the order received by the department until the funds are expended in full, after administrative costs are reimbursed. (d) The Department of Consumer and Business Services may stop accepting program applications for reasons as determined by the director, including but not limited to termination of a state of emergency proclamation under ORS 401.165. (e) The Department of Consumer and Business Services may enter into an interagency agreement with any other state agency to assist in carrying out the Quarantine Time Loss program. (f) Agencies who enter into an agreement with the department under section (5)(b) of this rule may recover administrative costs from the funds appropriated by the legislature to the program. (g) The department and any agency with which it has an agreement under section 5(b) of this rule may keep information obtained as part of the Quarantine Time Loss program from public disclosure to the extent allowed under the Public Records Laws, ORS 192.311 to 192.431. (6) Payment of benefits. (a) An employee who has received Quarantine Time Loss payments previously is not eligible to reapply. (b) Benefits are payable only to the extent that moneys are available in the Quarantine Time Loss program for that purpose. (7) Recovery of overpaid benefits. (a) If the director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services determines that an individual received any benefits under this rule to which the individual is not entitled because the individual, made or caused to be made a false statement or misrepresentation of a material fact, or failed to disclose a material fact, the individual is liable to repay the amount of benefits to the director for the Coronavirus Relief Fund. (b) Any amount subject to recovery under this section may be collected by the director in a civil action against the individual brought in the name of the director. (c) In any case in which the director may bring a civil action for collection of benefits obtained through false statements or misrepresentations, the director may instead issue a warrant for the amount to be repaid, together with the cost of collection from the date when the benefits were received, pursuant to ORS 705.175.