Washington State Maternity and Parental Leave Laws

How Does Washington's Maternity and Family Leave Law Work?

Washington is one of about a dozen states that provide publicly funded paid family and medical leave. The state program is paid for with payroll taxes on both employers and employees. If you take paid medical or parenting leave in Washington, you'll receive a percentage of your average income for the duration of your time off (up to a certain point).

In order to qualify for paid PFML leave in Washington state, you'll have to meet certain employment eligibility requirements and experience a "qualifying event."

Which Employees Qualify for PFML?

You'll need to have worked a minimum of 820 hours—about 16 hours per week—in the state of Washington during your qualifying period. Washington counts the first four of the past five completed calendar quarters to see if you've met the minimum hours worked requirement. For most applicants, this is the same as the past year they worked before applying for benefits.

Almost every employer with at least one employee in Washington State is required to provide their employees with PFML coverage. However, there are a few exceptions—these workers don't always get benefits under Washington's paid leave law:

• federal government employees
• employees covered under an approved voluntary plan (you can find the list here),
• people who perform "casual" (irregular and infrequent) work for an employer
• union members covered by certain collective bargaining agreements
• businesses owned by tribal governments on tribal land (they have the option to participate in PFML), and
• self-employed individuals (they have the option to participate in PFML).

What Is a Qualifying Event for PFML?

Not every family or medical emergency will be covered by Washington PFML leave. In order to take paid time off, you need to show that either you or your family member experienced a qualifying event.

Washington's PFML Act offers two types of paid leave benefits: medical and family leave. Your qualifying event might entitle you to coverage under either type, although both programs are administered by the Washington State Employment Security Department.

Medical leave is for when a serious health condition prevents you from working. The condition can be almost anything, so long as your doctor agrees that it's serious. Examples include:

• any illness or injury that kept you off work for more than three days
• chronic health conditions, like diabetes or epilepsy
• pregnancy or prenatal care
• treatment for substance abuse or mental health, and
• recovery from surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, or dialysis.

Pregnancy is considered a serious health condition under Washington law, so if you're taking paid PFML for issues related to pregnancy or childbirth, the state will consider that to be medical leave.

Family leave is available to take care of a family member with a serious health condition, or to bond with a new baby or child. You can use family leave to care for:

• your spouse or domestic partner
• children (biological, adoptive, foster, or stepchildren)
• your and your spouse's parents or legal guardians
• siblings
• grandchildren and grandparents (or spouse's grandparents)
• son- and daughter- in law, or
• somebody who has an expectation to rely on you for care, whether you live together or not.