Oregon Business Insurance Guide 2026

Who must carry it: 1 or more employees (Oregon Workers' Compensation Division, Oregon Workers' Compensation: Frequently Asked Questions (publication 5126)).

By law, Oregon employers that have one or more employees, full or part time, must carry workers’ compensation insurance or be self-insured.

Source: Oregon Workers' Compensation Division, Oregon Workers' Compensation: Frequently Asked Questions (publication 5126)

Exemptions and exclusions

ORS 656.027 lists nonsubject workers, including domestic servants in a private home; gardening, maintenance or repair workers in the employer's private home; casual employment outside the employer's business (under $1,000 total labor cost in any 30-day period, adjusted annually); sole proprietors; partners not doing construction work; LLC members, although members of multi-member LLCs doing construction work are subject; corporate officers who are directors with substantial ownership; and other listed groups (ORS chapter 656).

The agency to ask is the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services, Workers' Compensation Division. To check a proposal's payroll arithmetic, use the workers' comp calculator; the workers' compensation guide explains what the coverage pays for.

The minimum auto liability coverage in Oregon:

• Bodily injury liability: $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident
• Property damage liability: $20,000 per accident
• Start date: not stated in the source; confirmed in force on October 3, 2026 (ORS 806.070 was last amended in 2021)
• Source: ORS 806.070, Minimum payment schedule (Oregon State Legislature, ORS chapter 806)

If your business runs commercial or for-hire vehicles, they can face different or higher federal or state requirements, so check any lease or client contract too; the commercial auto guide can help.

Paid Leave Oregon, run by the Oregon Employment Department, is a state paid family, medical and safe leave program. The 2026 total contribution rate is 1% of gross wages up to $184,500: employees pay 60% of it, and large employers (25 or more employees on average) pay the other 40%. Small employers (fewer than 25 employees on average) pay no employer share but must still withhold, report and pay the employee contributions (Paid Leave Oregon, Employers overview).

The total contribution rate for 2026 is 1% of gross wages up to $184,500 (This may change from year to year, but the rate will never be more than 1%.)

Source: Paid Leave Oregon, Employers overview

What employers do: Withhold employee contributions from wages and report and pay them; large employers (25 or more employees on average) also pay the 40% employer share, unless an approved equivalent plan is in place (Paid Leave Oregon: employers overview).

In Oregon, licenses, leases and client contracts can add their own insurance or bond conditions, such as minimum general liability limits; track each one with the certificate of insurance checklist and compare states in the requirements-by-state guide.

• Workers' compensation: Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services, Workers' Compensation Division
• Auto liability minimums: ORS 806.070, Minimum payment schedule (Oregon State Legislature, ORS chapter 806)
• Paid leave and disability insurance: Oregon Employment Department, Paid Leave Oregon

The state requirements checklist prepares questions from your headcount and vehicles; to ask PolicyBenchmark to follow up, request coverage help.