Washington fmla rights

The benefit amount varies, depending on whether the employee earns more or less than the state's average weekly wage. Job protection. When employees return from leave, they are entitled to be returned to the same or an equivalent job. They also are entitled to have available the same employment benefits that they accrued before taking the leave.

Bases for leave. Like the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, the bases for leave under the new state law include:. The Employment Security Department has authority to investigate alleged violations of the law, make conclusions of fact and law, and levy penalties and fines against employers and damages in favor of employees.

The Employment Security Department will be revising its posters to include notice of the law. These posters must be conspicuously posted at the workplace.

Michael A. Griffin and Jonathan M. Minear are attorneys with Jackson Lewis in Seattle. All rights reserved. Reposted with permission. You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. Please enable scripts and reload this page.

By Michael A. Image Caption. Affected Employers The law applies to all private and most public employers in Washington. Employers may request a waiver of the premium requirement for employees who are: Physically based outside of Washington. Not expected to work in Washington for at least hours during a "qualifying period. Affected Employees The law applies to all employees working in Washington, except for those of the federal government.

Effective July You can qualify for family leave if you are caring for someone who has an expectation to rely on you for care—whether you live together or not. We may require documentation about your relationship to the person or certification of their medical need.

Nearly every worker can qualify for Paid Leave if they worked a minimum of hours about 16 hours a week in Washington during their qualifying period. Effective Aug. Once you submit your request, we will review using our current processing times and send you a new decision letter.

Please only submit your request once. All hours you work in Washington count toward eligibility, even if you work multiple jobs or switch employers.

Up to 12 weeks of medical leave or family leave. Medical leave is for recovering from or getting treatment for a serious health condition. Family leave is for taking care of a qualifying family member who has a serious health condition, for bonding with a new child or for certain military events. Up to 16 weeks of combined medical and family leave if you have more than one qualifying event in the same claim year.

This could include medical leave for pregnancy or to recover from giving birth, then family leave to bond with your baby. Or you could qualify for family leave to care for a family member, then medical leave for yourself within the same year. Up to 18 weeks of combined medical and family leave if you experience a condition in pregnancy that results in incapacity, like being put on bed rest or having a C-section.

There is a checkbox on the Certification of Serious Health Condition form where your healthcare provider should certify that your serious health condition is related to pregnancy. A little at a time, or all at once: You do not have to take your Paid Leave all at once. A serious health condition of a qualifying family member. Certain military events. Visit paidleave. In January of , mandatory premium deductions of 0.

Premiums are split between employer