Unemployment Insurance Division
Address: PO Box 14135 Salem, 97309-5068
Phone: 877-345-3484
Contact: Lindsi Leahy, Director
Communications Officer: Seth Gordon
Statutory Authority: ORS Chapter
657
Unemployment insurance benefits replace part of the income lost when workers become unemployed through no fault of their own. The division pays benefits to eligible claimants, decides eligibility issues and discourages fraud.
The money used to pay Oregon unemployment insurance benefits comes from Oregon employers’ state payroll taxes, which are deposited in a trust fund to pay unemployed Oregon workers.
Contributions and Recovery Division
Phone: 503-947-1488
875 Union St. NE, Salem, 97311
Contact: Nate Stevens, Director
The Oregon Employment Department’s Contribution and Recovery Division manages payroll tax reporting in Oregon. Oregon employer payroll taxes help fund Oregon’s Unemployment Insurance and Paid Leave Oregon programs.
Workforce and Economic Research Division
Address: 875 Union St. NE, Salem 97311
Phone: 503-947-1229
Contact: Bob Uhlenkott, Director
Statutory Authority: ORS
657.601
The division’s economists, workforce analysts and researchers collect, analyze and disseminate statewide and regional labor market information. They help organizations and businesses apply that information in their day-to-day operations.
Analysts provide concise, up-to-date information about the local and state economies and their effects on the workforce. Research staff study the labor force and related topics, supply data and analysis to new and expanding firms and analyze occupational supply and demand.
Workforce Operations Division
Address: 875 Union St. NE, Salem 97311
Phone: 503-947-1277
Contact: Jim Pfarrer, Director
Statutory Authority: ORS
657.601
This division recruits workers with skills matching employers’ needs. The department helps job seekers find jobs that match their skills, gives them information about occupation trends and refers them to appropriate training programs.
The division partners with the Higher Education Coordinating Commission, local workforce development boards, local training providers and the Department of Human Services Self-Sufficiency and Vocational Rehabilitation programs to form WorkSource Oregon, the state’s workforce system. The division also oversees programs assisting certain groups, such as military veterans, migrant seasonal farmworkers and workers adversely affected by foreign trade.
Office of Administrative Hearings
Mailing Address: PO Box 14020, Salem 97309-4020
Address: 4600 25th Ave. NE, Suite 140, Salem 97301
Contact: Rema Bergin, Executive Assistant to Jeffrey Rhoades, Chief Administrative Law Judge
Statutory Authority: ORS
183.605
The office provides an independent and impartial forum for citizens and businesses to dispute state agency actions against them. The Governor appoints a Chief Administrative Law Judge who has independent statutory authority to manage the office. Sixty-four professional administrative law judges hold nearly 24,000 hearings a year for approximately 70 state agencies. Oregon is one of 22 states with an independent central panel of administrative law judges.
Employment Appeals Board
Address: 875 Union St. NE, Salem 97311
Phone: 503-378-2077
Contact: Sarah Serres, Chair
Statutory Authority: ORS
657.685–
657.690
The Governor appoints the three-member board to review orders issued in contested unemployment insurance claims cases. The board has the authority to affirm, modify, reverse, or remand for additional evidence the orders of administrative law judges at the Office of Administrative Hearings. Final written decisions of the board are subject to review by the Oregon Court of Appeals.
Employment Department Advisory Council
Address: 875 Union St. NE, Salem 97311
Phone: 503-947-3098
Contact: Rebecca Nance
Statutory Authority: ORS
657.695
The Governor appoints the council, which includes volunteer representatives from the public, employers, and employees. Council members meet quarterly to assist the Oregon Employment Department director with policies and programs related to unemployment insurance, employment services, and labor market information.
Paid Leave Oregon
Address: 875 Union St. NE, Salem 97311
Phone: 833-854-0166
Contact: Karen Madden Humelbaugh, Director
Statutory Authority: ORS
657B
Paid Leave Oregon allows employees to take paid time off to care for themselves and their families. Employees can take paid leave to care for a family member; bond with a new child; take care of themselves when they have a serious health condition; and seek treatment, safe housing, or other needs as survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, harassment, bias crimes, or stalking.
Both employees and employers pay contributions to the Paid Leave Oregon Trust fund through payroll taxes. Each year in November, the Oregon Employment Department sets the contribution rate, which may be up to 1% of an employee’s total gross wages.