Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave Law: What You Need to Know

If your employees work in the State of Washington, then you should know about its paid family and medical leave law, which took effect January 1, 2020. The program is funded by employee (and certain employer) contributions. This means applicable employers must provide paid family and medical leave plus withhold premiums from their employees’ wages.

Background on Washington’s paid family and medical leave law

A paid leave law had been on the state’s books since 2007 and was originally supposed to take effect in October 2009. However, the law was never implemented and legislation that followed it indefinitely postponed its implementation.

Revisiting the issue, Washington passed legislation in 2017 establishing a paid family and medical leave program. The legislation garnered “strong bipartisan support,” according to a statement from Democratic Governor Jay Inslee’s office. This law took effect January 1, 2020.

A note about Washington’s paid sick leave law

Washington’s paid sick leave law took effect in January 2018 after receiving voter approval in 2016. Employees earn a minimum of 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked.

The success of that initiative, and the potential for a future labor-backed initiative on paid family leave, prompted some business groups to negotiate a paid family leave bill, public radio station KNKX reported.

Basic requirements of the paid family and medical leave law

Applicable employers in Washington must comply with the state’s paid family and medical leave law, which went into effect January 1, 2020.

Under this law, eligible workers in the Evergreen state can take up to 12 weeks of paid leave:

• For their own serious health condition
• To care for a qualifying family member with a serious health condition
• To bond with their child, following the birth, adoption, or foster placement
• For specific military events.

Most Washington employers, including out-of-state employers with Washington employees, must participate in the paid family and medical leave program.

The only exceptions are:

• Self-employed individuals (who may opt-in)
• Federal employees
• Federally recognized tribes (who may opt-in)
• Employees subject to a collective bargaining agreement until the agreement is reopened, renegotiated, or expires

The program is administered by Washington’s Employment Security Department (ESD), the agency that approves or denies leave requests and makes leave benefits payments.

Employers can provide their own paid family and medical program, but it must meet or exceed the benefits offered by the state plan and it must be approved by state authorities.

Employers can provide their own paid family and medical program, but it must meet or exceed the benefits offered by the state plan and it must be approved by state authorities.

Note that Washington’s program is different from the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). While the federal program similarly offers 12 weeks of leave, the FMLA applies only to employers with 50 or more employees, and the leave is unpaid. The state program does not replace the FMLA.

Employee and employer contributions

Washington’s paid family and medical leave program is funded by payroll deductions from employees’ wages, and contributions from certain employers.

The legislation initially set the payroll deduction rate at 0.4%, starting January 1, 2019. Thereafter, the rate increased to 0.6%. Most recently, the rate rose to 0.8%, effective January 1, 2022.

• Employers with 50 or more employees must split the premium cost with employees. In this case, the employer pays 26.78% of the cost, and the employee pays 73.22%.
• Employers with fewer than 50 employees do not have to pay the employer’s share of the premium. However, they must either withhold the full premium amount (73.22%) from employees’ gross wages or choose to pay their employees’ portion.

An employer may be granted a conditional premium waiver for an employee who is:

• Physically based outside of Washington
• Employed in Washington on a limited or temporary work schedule
• Not expected to work in Washington for at least 820 hours during a qualifying period

Employee eligibility for paid family and medical leave

Employees can take paid family and medical leave under the state program after working at least 820 hours — about 16 hours a week — during 4 of the last 5 calendar quarters. All paid work, whether part-time, temporary, or seasonal, goes toward the 820 hours.

Self-employed individuals are eligible for benefits once they have worked 820 hours and have paid premiums for at least 3 years.

Receiving paid family and medical leave benefits

The state program provides a percentage of the employee’s weekly wage, at least $100 per week and no more than $1,000 a week.

To receive benefits, the employee must:

• File a claim with the ESD
• Consent to the disclosure of certain information
• Notify their employer
• Meet certain documentation requirements regarding leave for a serious health condition or military exigency

The employer is notified when the employee files a claim for benefits and when the Department approves or denies the claim.

Employee notice to employers of intention to take leave

The employee must give their employer 30 days’ advance notice of their intention to take paid family and medical leave. In emergency cases, they must give the notice as soon as reasonably possible.

What is the duration of paid family and medical leave?

Employees are allowed up to 12 weeks of paid leave to:

• Welcome a child into their family through birth, adoption, or foster placement
• Take care of their own serious illness or injury
• Care for an eligible, seriously ill relative, such as a spouse, child, parent, grandchild, grandparent, or sibling
• Prepare for a family member’s pre- and post-deployment activities, as well as time for childcare issues related to a family member’s military deployment

Additional time may be available in certain situations. For example, the employee can take up to 14 weeks of paid family or medical leave for a pregnancy-related serious health condition that causes incapacity.

The employee can use multiple leave options consecutively, so that leave under the state program does not diminish leave under the FMLA or other available leave. In addition, the employer cannot require that the employee use other leave before using the state’s paid leave program.

For large employers, the paid leave must be job-protected

For large employers, the paid leave must be job-protected, which means that an employee returning from leave is entitled to the same job or an equivalent one. Large employers are companies with 50 or more employees.

The employee must also have worked for the employer for at least 12 months and for at least 1,250 hours — about 24 hours a week — during the preceding 12 months.

Large employers must continue the employee’s health insurance

Large employers must continue the employee’s health insurance coverage during paid family and medical leave. The employee is responsible for paying their share of the insurance premium while on leave

Employers cannot retaliate against employees

Employers cannot retaliate against an employee for requesting or utilizing leave under the state program. Double damages are a possibility for willful violations.

Washington offers small business grants for compliance

Washington is offering grants to companies with 150 or fewer employees, as an incentive to comply with the state’s family and medical leave program. The grants provide up to $3,000 to help cover the costs associated with employees who take paid family and medical leave. An employer may apply for up to 10 grants each year — one per employee on paid leave.

Applicable employers must provide posters and notices

Applicable employers must post an ESD-compliant poster informing employees of the state’s paid family and medical leave program. Moreover, the employer must send a notice within 5 business days to each employee who may be eligible for paid family and medical leave.

State family and medical leave: A rising trend

More and more states are passing paid or unpaid family and medical leave laws. For a comprehensive list of these states, see “The Definitive List of State Family and Medical Leave Programs.”

This article has been updated.