ORS 657.115¹
Wages
  • • exclusion of fringe benefits

(1) “Wages” does not include the amount of any payment made to, or on behalf of, an individual or any of the individual’s dependents on account of:

(a) Retirement.

(b) Sickness or accident disability under a workers’ compensation law.

(c) Medical or hospitalization expenses in connection with sickness or accident disability.

(d) Death.

(e) Dependent care assistance furnished pursuant to a program that meets the requirements of section 129(d) of the Internal Revenue Code, to the extent the assistance does not exceed the earned income limitation in section 129(b) of the Internal Revenue Code.

(2) For purposes of this section, “payment made” includes amounts paid by an employing unit for insurance or annuities or into a fund.

(3) This section does not apply unless the payment is made under a plan or system established by an employing unit which makes provision generally:

(a) For individuals performing service for it or for such individuals generally and their dependents; or

(b) For a class or classes of such individuals or for a class or classes of such individuals and their dependents. [Amended by 1981 c.77 §4; 1983 c.508 §3; 1991 c.803 §1; 2005 c.283 §1; 2007 c.614 §17]

Notes of Decisions

Salary reduc­tion amount used for employer pay­ment of employee benefit pursuant to irrevocable elec­tion by employee are not wages for purpose of calculating unemploy­ment benefit. Lee v. Employ­ment Depart­ment, 221 Or App 449, 190 P3d 453 (2008), Sup Ct review denied

Chapter 657

Notes of Decisions

An individual who performs services for remunera­tion is an employee, and per­son or organiza­tion for whom services are performed is an employer under terms of Employ­ment Division Law even if remunera­tion is paid indirectly rather than directly unless employer shows that some statutory exclusion applies. Lectro Lift, Inc. v. Morgan, 14 Or App 316, 513 P2d 526 (1973)

Mere act of incorporating as professional corpora­tion does not, by itself, create employer-employee rela­tionship for purposes of this chapter. Peterson v. Employ­ment Division, 82 Or App 371, 728 P2d 95 (1986)

Determina­tion of whether claimant is qualified for benefits is made by reference to ORS 657.150 (Amount of benefits) and 657.155 (Benefit eligibility conditions), which require determina­tion of amount of work that claimant performed in “employ­ment” as defined in ORS chapter 657, which, in turn means that exclusions from “employ­ment” set out in ORS 657.040 (Employment) through 657.094 (Employment) must be considered. May Trucking Co. v. Employ­ment Dept., 251 Or App 555, 284 P3d 553 (2012)

Atty. Gen. Opinions

Determining employer of musicians’ group, (1972) Vol 35, p 1306

1 Legislative Counsel Committee, CHAPTER 657—Unemployment Insurance, https://­www.­oregonlegislature.­gov/­bills_laws/­ors/­ors657.­html (2019) (last ac­cessed May 16, 2020).
 
2 Legislative Counsel Committee, Annotations to the Oregon Revised Stat­utes, Cumulative Supplement - 2019, Chapter 657, https://­www.­oregonlegislature.­gov/­bills_laws/­ors/­ano657.­html (2019) (last ac­cessed May 16, 2020).
 
3 OregonLaws.org assembles these lists by analyzing references between Sections. Each listed item refers back to the current Section in its own text. The result reveals relationships in the code that may not have otherwise been apparent. Currency Information