Washington Business Fall 2017 | Legislative Review & Vote Record | Page 18

2017 legislative review
paid family and medical leave
Paid family leave is a benefit provided to employees to take time off work to
care for a newborn, treatment or recovery from a serious illness, or to care
for a family member.
plan’s benefits, qualifying events
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The paid family leave law allows workers to take 12-16 weeks
of leave using disability definitions under the Federal Medical Leave
Act (FMLA).
Employees will receive 90 percent of half the state’s Average Weekly
Wage and 50 percent of earnings above, up to a maximum of $1,000
per week, adjusted annually for inflation.
All employees are eligible to receive the benefit after working 820
hours. The program provides a uniform statewide system benefit that
follows employees when they change jobs or move locations.
funding and administration
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Employers pay 37 percent of the premium and employees pay 63
percent, except in small businesses with 50 or fewer employees.
Those small businesses can opt-in to the program and pay their
premium portion or remain opted-out, but their employees still pay
their 63 percent premium and have access to the program’s benefits.
The state Employment Security Department (ESD) will oversee the
program. This includes processing leave claim submissions, which
is the employee’s responsibility; notifying the employer of the leave
request; and, paying out the leave benefit.
A rate smoothing mechanism ensures the program’s fund reserves will
not get too large.
small business provisions
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16 association of washington business
Employers with fewer than 50 employees are exempt from the
program and their portion of premiums, but their employees are in
the program and pay their share of premiums, giving them access to
the benefit.
Small businesses with 150 employees are eligible for grants to train
replacement workers to fill in for employees on leave.
All employers benefit from an Unemployment Insurance (UI) provision
that ensures UI rates do not go up due to layoff of a temporary worker.
The program also maintains the FMLA job protection provisions to
ensure ease in administration and predictability for employers.
Employers of any size with an equal or better plan can apply for a
waiver from the program through ESD.