How Paid Leave works

1. They have worked enough hours to qualify for Paid Leave.

Nearly every Washington worker can receive paid leave as long as they have worked a minimum of 820 hours in Washington during the qualifying period. The 820 hours can be at one job or combined from multiple jobs. That means if an employee of yours works for another company at the same time, the hours from both jobs are added together to determine eligibility for Paid Leave.

2. They or a family member experience a “qualifying event.”
Qualifying events include serious illnesses or injuries that prevent someone from working, a new baby or child joining a family and certain military events.

• Federal employees
• Self-employed people
• Employees of a tribally-owned business on tribal land

Paid Leave’s collective bargaining agreement provision expired Dec. 31, 2023. Workers who were previously excluded from Paid Leave because of a CBA are eligible for the program beginning Jan. 1, 2024.

If you have 50 or more employees, your employees are eligible for job protection for the duration of their leave, provided they have worked for you for 12 months or longer and have worked 1,250 hours (about 24 hours a week) in the year before the first day they take Paid Leave.

Nothing prevents an employer from maintaining a worker’s benefits while they take Paid Family and Medical Leave.

1. Employee applies for Paid Leave: When an employee has a qualifying event, they will apply for leave directly with the state.

2. Employee notifies their employer that they plan to take leave—30 days prior, if possible: If the employee’s leave is expected (for example, they are expecting a baby), they must give you written notice at least 30 days in advance. If the leave is unexpected (for example, the employee’s spouse is in a serious car crash), the employee must give you notice as soon as they are able. The written notice should let you know the employee needs to take paid family or medical leave and about how long they expect to be out. Emails, text messages and handwritten notes all count as written notice.

3. The state will notify you of your employee’s approved application for Paid Leave. The notice will include your employee’s name, leave start and end dates, and instructions for disputing the claim should you need to.

A little at a time, or all at once: Employees do not have to take their Paid Leave all at once. For example, an employee can take one day off a week to care for a family member undergoing chemotherapy treatment, or they can take their leave in full weeks to recover from their own major surgery.

At least 8 hours: When employees take Paid Leave, they have to take at least eight hours off in a row. That’s one day for full-time employees but may be more than one day for people working part time.

One year to use it: Employees can use the Paid Leave they qualify for at any time in the 12 months after their application date.

• Medical leave duration is based on what the medical provider deems medically necessary.
• For family bonding leave, the employee has 12 months from the child’s date of birth or placement in the home to take their leave.
• The employee can only use leave during their approved start and end dates, but multiple periods of leave can be approved during the year.
• If they don’t use all of their leave within 12 months, unused time will not carry over into the next year. The employee can apply again for Paid Leave in the following year if they have another qualifying event.

Paid Family and Medical Leave is funded through premiums paid by both employees and employers. The premium is a percentage of employees’ gross wages excluding tips, with the contribution divided between the employee and the employer. Small businesses that average fewer than 50 employees on their quarterly reports are not required to pay the employer portion of the premium, but they still collect and submit the employees’ share of the premium, and their employees may still be eligible for the full benefit.

Note: The premium rate and split between employee and employer shares changed for 2024.

• Starting Jan. 1, 2024, the premium rate is 0.74 percent of each employee’s gross wages, not including tips, up to the 2024 Social Security cap ($168,600).
• Of this, employers with 50+ employees will pay up to 28.57% and employees will pay 71.43%.