Updates

2026 Paid Family & Medical Leave Premiums

Paid Family and Medical Leave premium rates are changing starting Jan. 1, 2026.

Premiums, collected from employees and employers through quarterly reporting, fund the Paid Leave program. By law, we recalculate the Paid Leave premium rate annually in October. We adjust the premium rate based on premiums contributed and benefits paid during the previous year.

Starting Jan. 1, 2026:

• The premium rate will increase to 1.13%.
• Employers will pay 28.57% of the total premium and employees will pay 71.43%.
• Businesses classified by the Employment Security Department as having fewer than 50 employees for the 2025 calendar year are not required to pay the employer portion of the premium. However, you must still collect the employee premium or pay employees’ premiums on their behalf.

Next steps for employers

• Notify your employees the new rate applies to wages paid on or after Jan. 1, 2026. We will update the employer toolkit, mandatory poster and paystub insert in December. These resources are available on the Employer Roles and Responsibilities page at paidleave.wa.gov/employer-roles-responsibilities.
• On Jan. 1, 2026, start collecting the new premium rate each pay period from your employees’ total gross wages, not including tips. Once an employee meets the Social Security cap, you need to stop collecting premiums but continue to report their wages. The Social Security cap for the 2026 calendar year will increase to $184,500.
• First quarter premiums using the new rate are due by the end of April 2026. Remember: You cannot retroactively withhold premiums from employees.

Learn more on our website

We sent letters to employers as an additional notification about this upcoming change.

We have more resources available on our website, including:

• An updated premium estimator.
• Premium rate calculations (available in our Help Center. Download the Employer toolkit- Reporting and Premiums).
• More reporting information for you.

Additional updates for 2026

Starting Jan. 1, 2026, other aspects of the Paid Leave program will also update due to legislative changes:

• Job protection: Enhances job protection for employees taking Paid Leave from employers with 25 or more employees.
• Health care benefits: Clarifies when employers are required to maintain health care benefits for employees taking job-protected Paid Leave.
• Paid Leave and FMLA concurrence: Provides information to help employers manage job protection when an employee is eligible for both Paid Leave and FMLA.
• Weekly claim minimums: Reduces the minimum amount of time an employee must miss in a week to be eligible for Paid Leave from 8 hours to 4 hours.
• Small business assistance grants: Expands Paid Leave’s grant program to help small employers with costs related to employees on leave.

IRS tax guidance about Paid Leave programs
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued tax guidance in January 2025 with implications for Washington state employers and those who receive Paid Family and Medical Leave benefits. Read the original guidance on the IRS website.
According to the guidance, medical leave benefits attributable to employer premium payments may be subject to federal payroll tax (FUTA and FICA) liability.
In December 2025, the IRS issued a notice of extension (PDF, 101 KB), which states that the previous guidance and its implications will not be enforced until after 2026. In Washington state, that means Employment Security will not transfer the federal payroll tax liability to employers for tax years 2025 and 2026.  
However, employers could still have tax implications related to premium contributions. To fully understand tax responsibilities, customers and employers should seek the advice of tax professionals. The Employment Security Department cannot provide tax guidance on this issue.  

Application processing times

Our application processing time is 3-4 weeks. Download our online user guides for help creating and managing your benefit account. Learn more.