Washington state has a leave law called Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave (WA PFML), which provides leave and income replacement benefits for medical (medical and pregnancy disability) and “family leave” reasons, including parental, family care, or military exigency leave (i.e., assisting with family needs related to family member’s overseas deployment), in addition to some leave for the loss of a newborn or newly adopted child. Employees can qualify for time off and income replacement benefits under this law, based on total hours worked in Washington (including with other WA based companies) over the last 5 completed quarters. However, for the leave to be job-protected employees need to meet certain service requirements with their current organization. See the “Leave Types, Benefit Amounts and Durations” below for details. The WA PMFL is in most cases administered by the WA Employment Security Department, though employers may self-insure their PFML benefits.

Washington also has a leave law called the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD), which provides unpaid, job-protected leave to birth parents who are disabled due to pregnancy. This law has no defined duration and simply states that leave should be granted “for the period [the employee is] sick or temporarily disabled because of pregnancy or childbirth”

Where an employee is eligible for each law, WA PFML and WLAD will generally run concurrently with federal FMLA.

As part of our leave of absence service, The Larkin Company will track WA PFML and WLAD leaves and advise employees on how to file for the income replacement benefits associated with WA PFML. For our clients who have a self-insured WA PFML plan in place with The Larkin Company, we will also handle your Washington employee disability and paid family leave claims directly, with no requirement for employees to file with the ESD. If you are curious about the services we provide, such as our self-insured WA PFML service, please see here or contact your Client Success Manager.

This resource section provides information on how the benefits are made available to employees, for example, are the state pay benefits provided directly by the state or are employers required to provide the benefit via an insurance carrier, and/or may employers self-insure the benefit. Additionally, how are benefits funded, via contributions made by the employee or employer, or both, as well as providing information on state wage reporting requirements if applicable. Many states paid family leave programs require that employers submit employee wage reports for employees within the state. These reports are primarily used to assess an employee’s eligibility when they file for benefits. 

The resource below also provides a summary of employer actions, including how to register with the state to remit contributions and submit wage reports if applicable, and by when contributions/wage reporting is due.

Some leave laws require that you notify your employees about their rights under the law, such as, by providing a prescribed notice to new hires, displaying a poster in the workplace, and/or including information about that leave law in your company handbook. Below you will find a summary of the requirements for each law.

Where the law requires that a leave poster/notice must be provided to the employee when they request leave, The Larkin Company will provide the applicable document within our introductory leave packets (see “Larkin Enclosures” within the resource).

Employers may be required to complete employer forms for certain state income replacement programs, so they must be prepared to look up employee information and respond within the given timelines. While the questions vary state by state, they are typically focused around four areas: leave dates, employment status, last day worked, and questions around pay. To answer these questions, employers typically look in multiple systems to complete the forms:

• Leave dates – clients can use our employer portal or email notifications to confirm dates;
• Demographics/employment status – this information is typically housed in our client’s HRIS;
• Last day worked – this information is typically housed in our client’s time & attendance system;
• Gross wages/last day paid – this information is typically housed in our client’s payroll system.

State Forms – Process

Since this process is complex, we thought it might be helpful for employers to know 1) when to expect the forms based on employees’ work state and 2) when proactive employee collaboration is required. The below information is for Washington.

Also included, is information regarding: if you are required to register with the state’s website for the Employer Statements Process, how to register (if applicable), and how employers can check and employee’s claims status (if allowed by the state).

State Website(s)

WA Paid Family and Medical Leave – PFML (Leave and Pay Law)
WA Law Against Discrimination, WLAD (Pregnancy Leave Law) – no website

State Law and Regulation(s)

WA PFML Code
WA PFML Rules
WLAD Law

Contribution Registration (Paid Leave)

WA PFML Registration
WA PFML Employer Information
Employer Guide for Reporting
For general information regarding contributions for this state, please see here.

Employer Statement (Claim Process) Registration

NA – there is no employer registration/portal for the WA claims process.
For general information regarding the paid leave employer statement process for this state, please see here.