A company or other entity that operates in Washington and uses a digital network to connect passengers with TNC drivers to provide prearranged rides. (RCW 46.04.652)

Important:
Effective June 9, 2022, drivers contracting with a TNC who transport passengers may elect coverage as a self-employed individual if they want to participate and be eligible for paid family or medical leave benefits.

If drivers have worked 820 or more hours in their qualifying period including hours earned through June 8, 2022, they may be eligible for benefits as an employee for work performed for a TNC. Any hours and wages earned on or after June 9, 2022, will not be considered toward eligibility, unless they elect coverage.

Drivers may qualify for leave if they have work with other employers that are required to report hours worked and wages.

Family leave is used to take paid time off to:

• Care for a family member with a serious health condition.
• Bond with a new child born or placed into your family.
• Spend time with a family member who is about to be deployed overseas, is returning from overseas deployment or dealing with family issues related to the deployment.

Effective June 9, 2022
You may also use family leave for the seven days following the loss of a child if you meet one of these requirements:

• You would have qualified for prenatal or postnatal medical leave for the birth of your child.  RCW 50A.05.010(10)(d),
• You would have qualified for family leave to bond with your child during the first 12 months after birth, or
• You had a child under the age of 18 placed in your home and qualified for bonding leave within the first 12 months of placement.

More to know about family leave for the loss of a child

• The waiting week does not apply to family leave for the loss of a child.
• Family leave for the loss of a child must meet one of the above requirements, but you do not have to be a birth parent. It does not include leave for the death of any other family member.
• Any death of a child occurring prior to the law going into effect (June 9, 2022) is not eligible. You will need to provide us with the date of death and documentation or an attestation to qualify for this leave. You can call us or send a secure message to let us know, and we may request additional documentation.
• Family leave for the loss of a child is not another type of leave. It is a form of family leave, so it will use hours from your available duration of leave in a claim year.

Medical leave is for when your own serious health condition prevents you from working.

For example, you can qualify because of a major surgery, during pregnancy, to receive treatment for a chronic health condition and to receive inpatient treatment for substance abuse or mental health. The amount of Paid Leave you can take is determined by your medical provider.

Any leave taken by the birthing parent in the “postnatal period” will be designated as medical leave unless they specify otherwise.

Normally, the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters or, if that does not get you to the required 820 hours, the last four completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the application for leave.

You should apply as soon as possible after your event takes place. If you’re unable to apply within 30 days after your event, you may be able to backdate your claim if you have a good cause reason to do so, such as being hospitalized or otherwise incapacitated. Please call the Customer Care Team to find out if your circumstances qualify as “good cause.”

We can’t approve applications before your qualifying event takes place.

See the list here.

No. You can take as little as eight consecutive hours per week. For example, you could take two days off per week for chemotherapy treatment, or one day off each week to care for a parent with Alzheimer’s. Consecutive hours can cover two shifts. For example, if you need the last four hours of a shift to get a treatment and the first four hours of the following shift to continue that treatment, that counts as eight consecutive hours.

Your duration of leave is determined based on your “typical workweek hours.” This is your average number of hours worked per week since the beginning of the qualifying period. Salaried, full-time employees are always calculated at 40 hours per week.

Your total hours of leave are based on your “typical workweek hours.” This is your average number of hours worked per week since the beginning of the qualifying period. Salaried, full-time employees are always calculated at 40 hours per week. Your typical workweek hours are multiplied by the maximum number of weeks allowable for the event, creating a bank of hours you can draw from while on leave.

Your duration of leave is the amount of time you are approved for based on your healthcare provider’s certification, or the length of time that is standard for your event (such as 12 weeks for family leave).

No. As long as you have worked enough hours in the qualifying period, you can use Paid Family and Medical Leave. You cannot, however, claim Unemployment Insurance benefits or workers’ compensation benefits at the same time as Paid Family and Medical Leave.

A qualifying event is the thing that happens for which you need to take leave. Not all illnesses, injuries or situations will qualify you to take Paid Family and Medical Leave. The law says, “paid family leave [is] for the birth or placement of a child with the employee, for the care of a family member who has a serious health condition, and for a qualifying exigency under the federal family and medical leave act,” and “paid medical leave [is] for an employee’s own serious health condition.”

Certain workers are not always eligible for Paid Leave:

• Federal employees
• Employees of a tribally-owned business on tribal land
• Self-employed people who choose not to opt into the state program
• If you work for an employer with an approved voluntary plan you may not be eligible to use the state plan, but you would be able to use your employer’s benefits.

A “serious health condition” is defined in RCW 50A.05.010. Generally, a serious health condition could include an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves:

Inpatient care in a hospital, hospice, or residential medical care facility, including any period of incapacity; or

Continuing treatment by a healthcare provider including any of the following:

Incapacity: A period of incapacity of more than three consecutive days and subsequent treatment or period of incapacity relating to the same condition. Incapacity means an inability to work, attend school, or perform other regular daily activities because of a serious health condition, treatment of that condition or recovery from it, or subsequent treatment.

Pregnancy: Any period of incapacity due to pregnancy, or for prenatal care.

Chronic conditions: Any period of incapacity or treatment for such incapacity due to a chronic serious health condition. A chronic serious health condition is one which:

• Continues over an extended period of time, including recurring episodes of a single underlying condition;
• Requires periodic visits to a health care provider; and
• May cause episodic rather than a continuing period of incapacity, including asthma, diabetes, and epilepsy
• Permanent/Long-term: A period of incapacity which is permanent or long-term due to a condition for which treatment may not be effective. The employee or family member must be under the continuing supervision of, but need not be receiving active treatment by, a health care provider, including
• Alzheimer’s, a severe stroke, or the terminal stages of a disease; or
• Multiple treatments: Any period of absence to receive multiple treatments, including any period of recovery from the treatments.
• Substance abuse may be a serious health condition if the treatment meets other requirements in this definition.

All parents are eligible! Moms, dads, non-birth parents and guardians are eligible for paid family leave to bond with a child coming into their home through birth, adoption or foster placement within 12 months of the date the child first is placed in the home.

A parent who gives birth may also take medical leave during pregnancy or to recover after the baby is born.

These are the family members that qualify you to take family leave:

• Spouses and domestic partners
• Children (biological, adopted, foster or stepchild)
• Parents and legal guardians (or spouse’s parents)
• Siblings
• Grandchildren
• Grandparents (or spouse’s grandparents)
• Son-in-law and daughter-in-law
• Someone who has an expectation to rely on you for care—whether you live together or not.

We may require documentation about your relationship to the person or certification of their medical need.

You can take paid leave when:

• A serious health condition prevents you from working (medical leave)
• You are caring for a family member with a serious health condition (family leave)
• You are pregnant or have given birth (medical leave, which can be combined with family leave to bond with your baby, for a total of 16 weeks of leave. An additional 2 weeks can be approved due to pregnancy-related complications).
• You are taking time to bond with a new child born to you, or who you are adopting or fostering (family leave)
• When you want to spend time with a family member in the military who is home on leave or is soon to be deployed (family leave)

Nearly every Washington worker can qualify for paid leave as long as you worked a minimum of 820 hours (about 16 hours a week) in Washington over the last year. The 820 hours can be at one job or combined from multiple jobs.

Full-time, part-time, temporary and seasonal work counts. For eligible employees, all the hours you work in Washington count toward eligibility, even if you work multiple jobs or switch employers.

Certain workers are not automatically eligible.