Earlier this summer, Washington state passed a groundbreaking paid family and medical leave law. Washington’s leave provisions are among the most generous of the five states offering paid leave nationwide.

Employees and employers share in funding the leave through payroll deductions. The law requires employers with more than 50 total employees to pay up to 37.5% of the payroll cost of payroll deductions. Small businesses that choose to pay the entire premium for their workers will be eligible for relief for various types of state aid in hiring temporary replacement workers, or for grants to cover the cost of the premiums. The total premium is 0.4 percent of an employee’s wages.

Employees will be able to take anywhere from 12 – 18 weeks paid leave for the birth, foster placement or adoption of a child, for a medical condition of an employee or an employee’s family member, or a qualifying exigency as defined by the federal Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). In many respects, the purposes for which leave is available under the new Washington law mirror the purposes for which leave is available under FMLA.

Employees are eligible under the law if they have worked at least 820 hours during what the law defines as a “qualifying period,” or the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters or, if eligibility is not established, the last four completed calendar quarters immediately preceding an employee’s application for leave.

Payroll deductions are set to begin January 1, 2019, and employees will be eligible to receive benefits beginning in 2020.

Washington employers need to start thinking about how to effectively implement the new requirements imposed by the new law. Because employees will be paying into the program, employers should expect their employees to be aware of their rights under the new law, and to take advantage of paid leave more often and for longer periods of time.

You can find out more about the Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave Law by reviewing UEA’s earlier alert here. As always, we are here to answer any questions and help you comply with this new development!