Oregon WBF tax The Workers’ Benefit Fund assessment, per hour worked

What the Workers’ Benefit Fund pays for

The DCBS Workers’ Benefit Fund page says the fund pays for return-to-work programs for injured workers. It also pays higher benefits over time to workers who are permanently and totally disabled, and benefits to families of workers who die from workplace injuries or diseases.

It is not your workers’ compensation policy. You still need that policy from a licensed carrier, from SAIF, or through self-insurance. The WBF is a separate charge that rides on your payroll tax report. The Oregon page covers the policy.

2026 and 2027 rates

The 2027 change comes from a new piece. The DCBS BOLI Expenses Fund questions page says House Bill 4027 (2026) created the BOLI Expenses Fund, which pays for operations at the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. DCBS collects it with the WBF starting January 1, 2027, unless told otherwise. The two are combined into one total rate of 2.4 cents per hour. That is 2.2 cents for the WBF and 0.2 cents for the BEF. The combined rate applies starting with the first-quarter 2027 report.

The same page says employers must pay at least half of the total. A challenge to House Bill 4027 is before the Oregon Tax Court, which had not ruled when we checked. Watch for notices from DCBS.

How to figure it each payday

The DCBS WBF assessment details explain the math. Each pay period, multiply hours worked by the rate. Withhold up to half from the worker. You pay the other half.

• Count overtime, orientation, required training, and paid travel time.
• Do not count leave, on-call, or standby hours.
• Do not round partial hours. 38.5 hours stays 38.5.
• Fractions of a cent round by rule. DCBS gives this example at 29.5 hours: the employer share rounds up to $0.27 and the employee share is $0.26.

Here is one 40-hour week in 2026. 40 times 1.8 cents is 72 cents. You take up to 36 cents from the worker and pay 36 cents yourself. The same week in 2027 is 40 times 2.4 cents, or 96 cents, split 48 and 48. These are example figures you can redo.

Salaried workers and untracked hours

If you do not track hours, DCBS lets you use a flat count. Use 40 hours a week for weekly or biweekly pay. Use 173.33 hours a month for monthly or semimonthly pay. You cannot use the flat count for a worker whose hours you do track. Write down which method you use.

The 2026 Combined Payroll Tax booklet adds a quarterly version for Form 132: use 520 hours for a full-time worker if you do not track hours. 520 is 13 weeks times 40 hours.

Who counts

DCBS says the assessment applies to:

• Paid workers you must cover under Oregon workers’ compensation law.
• Paid owners and officers you choose to cover.
• Paid personal support workers eligible for coverage.

Volunteers are exempt. If you have no paid people covered by your policy, you can ask for an exemption from reporting. Workers in the preferred worker program are not exempt from the WBF, even though they are exempt from premiums for three years.

If you pay the worker’s half for them

You can choose not to take the worker’s half out of their check. DCBS says the Department of Revenue then treats your payment of their half as a taxable benefit to the worker.

Either way, you are the one who collects, reports, and pays the whole assessment. You may not take more than half from the worker. What is withholding tax covers the other amounts that come off an Oregon check.

Reporting and paying

You report the WBF on Form OQ, the Oregon Quarterly Combined Tax Report, through Frances Online. Hours go on Form 132 for each worker, and the total goes in boxes 27 to 31 of Form OQ. Oregon Form OQ covers the whole report and its due dates.

DCBS says to pay with the quarterly report, on Revenue Online or by check with Form OR-OTC-V. File the report even if you owe less than a dollar. You can correct the current year and the three years before it.

The booklet lists the WBF penalty as $50 to $2,000 if you file or pay more than 10 days late.

Before January 1, 2027

1. Look for the DCBS rate notice. The BEF page says employers get the official notice for the next year in November.
2. Change the rate in your payroll software from 1.8 to 2.4 cents for pay dated in 2027.
3. If you withhold half, change the worker’s share from 0.9 to 1.2 cents an hour.
4. Check that your hours method still fits each worker.

Year-end payroll checklist lists the other numbers that change on January 1.

Next step

Payroll software figures the WBF on plans that file Oregon, using the hours you enter. If your software pays salaried staff without hours, check what it reports on Form 132. The methodology page explains how we grade the state side of each product. Gusto is one plain link. Patriot is the other service on this site. The Oregon page has the full setup.