Employment Department briefs committee on SB 916 A: unemployment benefits for striking workers, DOL conformity, and estimated fiscal impact

The House Committee on Labor and Workplace Standards held an informational meeting April 28 with the Oregon Employment Department (OED) on Senate Bill 916 A, which would allow certain striking workers to claim unemployment insurance (UI) benefits while a strike continues, subject to weekly eligibility requirements and an expectation of return to employment.

OED officials Lindsay Leahy, Unemployment Insurance Division director, and David Gerstenfeld, director of the Oregon Employment Department, told the committee the department has no formal position on SB 916 A but provided technical analysis about program implementation, federal conformity and estimated trust‑fund impacts.

Key takeaways from the department’s briefing - Eligibility and weekly requirements: To qualify for UI generally, claimants must have sufficient base‑year wages (for example, at least $1,000 or 500 hours in the base year), must not be disqualified for other reasons (quitting without good cause or misconduct) and must meet weekly requirements of availability for work, active work search and ability to accept appropriate work. OED said SB 916 A would not change those fundamentals; it would instead tailor what “available” and “actively seeking work” mean for striking workers who intend to return to their jobs. - Federal conformity: OED said the state has flexibility to define “actively seeking work” in special circumstances. The department shared the bill…