Washington State has passed two new laws that make taking family and sick leave a practical reality for employees. Under the state’s new paid leave laws, employees are entitled to paid time off for their own health reasons, to care for a family member a with health condition, and to bond with a new child. Washington State joins only a handful of other states that require employers to provide their employees some form of paid sick and/or family leave.
Paid Sick Leave
Washington state voters passed Initiative 1433 on November 8, 2016, creating the state’s paid sick leave law. Starting January 1, 2018, all employees will begin accruing one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked. An employee may use sick leave because of (1) their own or a family member’s illness, injury or health condition, diagnosis, treatment or preventive medical care; (2) when the business or the employee’s child care facility is closed due to a health-related reason; or (3) for domestic violence purposes.
The law applies to every employer, regardless of size. Further, law does not limit the number of hours an employee may accrue in a year. Assuming that an employee works 40 hours per week for 48 weeks a year, the employee would accrue six days of paid sick leave a year. The Washington Department of Labor & Industries is in the process of making rules to more finely describe operation of the law. Take-away for today: Employers will be required to post a notice of employee rights under the sick leave law in the workplace.
Paid Family and Medical Leave
Earlier this month, Washington enacted a paid family and medical leave law that will provide employees with 12 weeks of (1) paid family leave for bonding or placement of a child with the employee, for the care of a family member who has a serious health condition, and for a qualifying exigency under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA); and (2) paid medical leave for an employee’s own serious health condition. The duration of leave may be extended for complications related to pregnancy.
Unlike the federal FMLA, which provides unpaid leave to employees who work for employers with 50 or more employees, all Washington employers will be required to provide state paid family and medical leave benefits to their employees. Under the state plan, both employers and employees will pay into the system. Premiums will start being collected on January 1, 2019. The total premium is 0.4 percent of an employee’s wages, of which the employer pays 37 percent and the employee pays 63 percent. Weekly benefits are calculated based on a percentage of the employee’s wages and the state’s weekly average wage. Benefits are payable beginning January 1, 2020.
Procedural Rules
Both new laws will require the adoption of implementing rules, notices, forms and outreach materials. Currently, paid sick leave rules are in development. You can track their progress and participate here. When rule-making for the paid family and medical leave law gets underway, we’ll post it here. Stay tuned – both laws will require employers to post a notice of rights in the workplace.