OED has drafted changes to three of our Oregon Administrative Rules (OARs) pertaining to Unemployment Insurance (UI) and is hosting two virtual listening sessions to gather feedback from the public. Click on the following links to register:
- Morning session: Thursday July 31 - Video
- Afternoon session: Monday, August 4 - Video
Interpretation in Spanish and American Sign Language (ASL) will be available.
OED has drafted changes to the following rules:
- 471-010-0105(4) Customer Information and Disclosure: General Disclosures – a minor clarification and a technical change.
- 471-030-0050(3) Benefit Payments – a minor change to remove branded language.
- 471-030-0036 Eligibility Factors – several significant changes to modernize weekly eligibility requirements and to implement new legislation (SB 916* 2025).
Official public comments can also be submitted by emailing oed_rules@employ.oregon.gov. Please include the full rule number and submit your comments by Sept. 4, 2025.
OED will take the feedback we receive into consideration before moving forward with the official rulemaking process this fall.
*OED's role is solely to implement this new law. The merits of the legislation will not be discussed during the listening sessions.
Update – Sept. 5, 2025
After receiving feedback from the listening sessions and reviewing legislative testimony, OED has revised our interpretation of when Senate Bill 916 will take effect for unemployment insurance claimants on strike.
OED's updated interpretation is that SB 916 will apply to any active strike when the bill becomes operable on January 4, 2026 – Sunday of the first full week after the effective date of the bill.
The date the bill becomes operable has not changed, but our initial interpretation was that SB 916 would only apply to strikes that began after the bill went into effect.
According to the revised interpretation, the unpaid strike week could be served as early as the week beginning January 4, 2026, for claimants with continuous claims who already received Waiting Week credit prior to January 4, 2026.
Claimants participating in an active strike who file an initial claim at the time SB 916 becomes operable will serve an unpaid strike week the week beginning January 4, 2026. The Waiting Week would then be served the week beginning January 11, 2026. If otherwise eligible, those workers could expect to receive benefits for the week beginning January 18, 2026.