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Set up and manage Oregon Paid Family and Medical Leave

SOLVED•by QuickBooks•93•Updated 3 days ago

Learn how to set up QuickBooks Payroll to track paid family and medical leave in Oregon. You can also pay the premiums on behalf of your employees.

Oregon has implemented paid family medical leave, called Paid Leave Oregon. The program gives employees paid time off to care for themselves, ill family members, or a new child. 

All Oregon employers who don’t have their own state-approved paid leave program are required to collect premiums.  

Find out more about Paid Leave Oregon.  

How the Paid Leave Oregon program works

  • The total contribution rate is 1% and is paid on the first $132,900 in wages. 
  • Your employees pay 60%. Your business may choose to pay some or all of the employee portion as a benefit to your employees. 
  • If you have more than 25 employees, your business pays 40%. If you have less than 25 employees, you don’t pay an employer portion.  The agency has a guide and chart to help you determine your employee count.
  • If you use QuickBooks Online Payroll Core, Premium, or Elite with automatic tax payments and filings turned on, or you use QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Assisted, we pay and report the premiums for you. 
  • If you use QuickBooks Online Payroll Core, Premium, or Elite with automatic tax payments and filings turned off, or you use QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Basic, Standard, or Enhanced, you’ll need to pay and report the premiums yourself. 

Add Paid Leave Oregon to your employees

Select your product below.

Note: Not sure which payroll service you have? Here's how to find your payroll service.

Add Paid Leave Oregon to your employees

Step 1: Set up your policy

  1. Go to Settings Settings gear icon., and Payroll settings.
  2. From Oregon Tax, select Edit ✎.
  3. Select Start under Oregon Paid Family and Medical Leave Tax (PFML).
  4. Select the number of employees used to determine your rate.
  5. Select Define Rates.
  6. Enter your Policy Name.
  7. Select the effective start date. 
  8. Enter the contribution percentages for you and your employees. For example, if you want to pay 50% of your employee's portion (you pay 30% and your employee pays 30% for a total of 60%), enter 30 in the employee box. 30 will automatically add to the employee box.
  9. Select Save. 
  10. If you want to enter another policy, select + Create contribution rates. 
  11. Select Save, then Done.

Step 2: Add the policy to your employees

  1. Go to Payroll, then Employees.
  2. Select your employee.
  3. From Tax withholding, select Edit.
  4. From State Withholding, select + Assign policy.
  5. Select the policy name you set up in Step 1.
  6. Select Save, then Done.
  7. Repeat steps 2 - 6 for all other Oregon employees.

If you’ve run any payrolls before setting up this rate, don’t worry.  We’ll automatically catch you up when you run your next payroll.

Get the latest payroll update 

Download and install the latest payroll update. The Add Item Wizard for the new Paid Leave Oregon Company and Employee items will launch when you pay your employees, or if you add any new Oregon employees.   

Important: You may see a message asking if the Paid Leave Oregon rate is part of the UI rate. Select No. 

Edit or delete employee's Paid Leave Oregon

Edit your policy

  1. Go to Settings ⚙, and select Payroll settings.
  2. From Oregon tax, select Edit ✎.
  3. Under Oregon Paid Family and Medical Leave Tax (PFML), select Edit next to the policy you want to edit. 
  4. Edit the rate, then select Save.
  5. Select Save, then Done. 

Remove policy from your employee

  1. Go to Payroll, then Employees.
  2. Select your employee.
  3. From Tax withholding, select Edit.
  4. From State withholding, look for the policy then select Unassign.
  5. Select Unassign to confirm action.

Enter or change your employee or company percentage

  1. Go to Employees, and select Employee Center.
  2. Double-click your employee.
  3. Select Payroll Info.
  4. Select Taxes, then select the Other tab.
  5. Select the OR - Paid Fam Med Leave Co. In Co. Portion Rate, enter your business rate (no decimals). For example, if you want to pay 50% of your employee's portion (you pay 30% and your employee pays 30%, for a total of 60%), enter 30.
  6. Select OR - Paid Fam Med Leave Emp. In Emp. Portion Rate, enter your employee rate (no decimals). For example, if you want to pay 50% of your employee's portion (you pay 30% and your employee pays 30%, for a total of 60%), enter 30.
  7. Select OK, then Save & Close.
  8. Repeat steps 2 - 7 for each covered employee.

Add or edit your Paid Leave Oregon account number

  1. Go to Lists, then select Payroll Item List.
  2. Double-click the OR - Paid Fam Med Leave Co. or OR - Paid Fam Med Leave Emp item.
  3. Select Next until you get to the Agency for company-paid liability screen.  
  4. Enter or edit your Oregon Business Identification Number (BIN).
  5. Select Next twice, then Finish.

Delete Paid Leave Oregon item from your employee’s profile

  1. Go to Employees, and select Employee Center.
  2. Double-click your employee’s name.
  3. Select Payroll Info. 
  4. Select Taxes, then Other.
  5. Select OR Paid Fam Med Leave Emp., then Delete.
  6. Select OR Paid Fam Med Leave Co., then Delete.
  7. Select OK, then Save & Close.

Pay the premiums on behalf of your employees

You can pay all or part of the employee portions of Paid Leave Oregon as a benefit to your employees. You can do this if you use the state plan or another equivalent plan. 

These company-paid contributions are considered employee wages and should be treated as an employee-taxable fringe benefit, except from Paid Leave Oregon wages. 

This is coming soon. Check back later for instructions.

Step 1: Add a fringe benefit pay type to your employee profile

  1. Go to Lists, select Payroll Item List.
  2. Select Payroll Item then select New.
  3. Select Custom Setup.
  4. Select Addition, then Next.
    • Addition: Adds the value of the fringe to be taxed and increases net pay.
  5. Enter a name (example: OR PFML EE Fringe Benefit ) for this item.  Select Next.
  6. Select an Expense account and Liability account. Select Next.
  7. Select Fringe Benefits. Select Next.
  8. Scroll down to OR - Paid Fam Med Leave Co. and OR - Paid Fam Med Leave Emp. Uncheck these. Select Next. 
  9. Select Neither. Select Next.
  10.  Enter your default amounts: 
    • The rate you wish to pay on behalf of your employees (example: 0.6% if you want to pay all of your employees’ portions). 
    • Enter the yearly tax amount (example: $797.40 which is 0.6% of the $132,900 2023 OR PFML wage base limit)
    • Select Limit Type Annual - Restart each year
      • ** Note: the annual tax limit will need to be updated annually as the wage base may increase. 
  11. Select Finish. 

Step 2: Add the fringe benefit to your employee’s paycheck

Report the fringe benefit on one or more paychecks before the end of the calendar year so it can be taxed appropriately and reported on your employees’ W-2s. 

  1. Go to Employees, and select Employee Center.
  2. Double-click your employee.
  3. Select Payroll Info.
  4. From Additions, Deductions, and Company Contributions select the OR PFML fringe benefit item. 

Exempt employees from Paid Leave Oregon

  1. Go to Payroll, then Employees.
  2. Select your employee.
  3. From Tax withholding, select Edit.
  4. From State withholding, under Oregon Paid Family and Medical Leave, select [Employee] is exempt from this contribution.
  5. Select Save.

If you use QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Assisted: contact us to remove Paid Leave Oregon.

If you use QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Basic, Standard, or Enhanced:

  1. Go to Employees, and select Employee Center.
  2. Double-click your employee.
  3. Select Payroll Info. 
  4. Select Taxes, then Other.
  5. Select OR Paid Fam Med Leave Emp, then Delete.
  6. Select OR Paid Fam Med Leave Co, then Delete.
  7. Select OK twice.

If you’ve created paychecks before exempting your employee:

  1.  Create a liability adjustment to correct QuickBooks Desktop. 
  2. Create a reimbursement item and add it to your employee’s next paycheck.

Frequently asked questions

  • All employees, no matter where that employee works, are used to determine the employer’s account 
  • Employers only need to pay premiums for employees who primarily work in Oregon, even if employees live in another state or occasionally work in another state
  • Oregon residents who work entirely in another state do not pay contributions
  • Employers count their size using the average number of employees on the 12th of each month from the previous twelve months. This means there are twelve numbers to calculate the average instead of just four. The agency has a guide and chart to help employers determine their employee count.
  • Note: Employers can calculate their employer size by adding the number of Oregon employees to the number of out-state employees and pay company contributions if they have 25 or more employees in the quarter.

If you use QuickBooks Online Payroll Core, Premium, or Elite with automatic tax payments and filings turned on, or you use QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Assisted, and purchased an equivalent plan from a third-party provider, Intuit will still report your employees' subject wages to Oregon. Follow the steps in this article to exempt your employees from Paid Leave Oregon. If you haven't done so already, be sure to add your Oregon Agency ID to QuickBooks.

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