Unemployment Insurance Laws and Rules

History

In 1935 and in response to the Great Depression, Congress enacted an unemployment insurance program as part of the Social Security Act (SSA). Today, the program is a federal-state partnership with oversight from the U.S. Department of Labor. The Social Security Act provides grants to states with unemployment insurance laws that meet federal requirements for administering unemployment insurance and overseeing benefit payments. States can use this federal funding only for the administration of unemployment insurance programs.

Each state has its own unemployment insurance program. A state statute, designed to align with federal requirements, outlines the unemployment benefits that state will offer, as well as how and when workers are eligible. The statute also establishes the tax contributions that employers in the state will pay into the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund.

The Oregon Employment Department manages the state of Oregon’s Unemployment Insurance Program. Lawmakers in the Oregon State Legislature write the unemployment insurance laws, which are in Oregon Revised Statute 657.

Oregon state agencies also create administrative rules that help them implement and interpret their statutory authority. The Oregon Employment Department’s rules are in Chapter 471 of the Oregon Administrative Rules . These include rules for the Unemployment Insurance Program. At times, the Oregon Employment Department also develops new proposed or temporary rules.

Additionally, legislative initiatives in Oregon and at the federal level may make changes to Oregon’s Unemployment Insurance Program. For example, the Oregon Employment Department implemented several new federal programs and updated state requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of multiple federal and state legislative actions.