While you're on leave

Senate Bill 5586 made changes to Paid Leave’s privacy provisions. For any employer marked as a “current employer” in your benefit application or during a weekly claim, we’ll share the following information:

• Employee name
• Benefit Claim ID number
• Application date and requested leave dates
• Leave type (Medical or Family)
• Decision and approved leave dates

If you submit weekly claims, employers will only have  access to our decisions:

• WW = Waiting week
• Yes = Approved and paid week
• No = Denied or unpaid

If any of the benefit details listed above change, the new information will be shown to your employer.

We will not be sharing:

• Your health information,
• The reason you have applied for leave,
• Your weekly benefit amount,
• Your payment amounts,
• Your hours used,
• If your application is currently being redetermined or appealed, or
• If there are any other employers associated with your account or leave.

You can share this information with your employer if you choose. Some employers may ask for this information if they want to top off your benefit or provide supplemental benefits.

Yes! Keeping your employer contact up to date while you are on leave ensures only the right people have access to your information. If you have changed jobs since you began using Paid Leave, you can update your employer information after you submit your weekly claim.

If you work for a company that employs more than 50 people in Washington, and you have worked there for at least a year and for at least 1,250 hours in the year before taking leave, your job is likely protected. But an employer can deny job restoration if:

• You are within the highest paid 10% of salaried employees employed by your employer within 75 miles of the work facility, or
• They can show that your job would not have existed when you returned from leave.

If you do not have job protection with Paid Family and Medical Leave there may be other local, state or federal laws that offer job protection or restoration for you. You will need to continue to follow the leave notification policies of your employer.

If you need to update your leave dates, you can submit a Request for Review in your Paid Leave account. You will also need to upload:

• a new certification form with the extended dates for medical leave.
• supporting documentation (such as proof of birth documents, a certification form, or military exigency documents) with your request to extend family leave.

This is how you get paid: You will file weekly claims with us while on leave. You will need to report any hours you have worked, or paid time off received during each week of leave that is not considered a “supplemental benefit.” It is your responsibility to accurately report this information. You may file up to four weekly claims at a time, and this can be done online or over the phone. Visit paidleave.wa.gov/after-you-apply for more information and tips about what to expect after you apply.