Significant Changes Are Coming to Washington's Paid Family Medical Leave Program in 2026

Employers should take note, amendments to Washington state's Paid Family and Medical Leave law (PFML) included in HB 1213 significantly broaden job restoration rights, attempt to address leave stacking issues, alter benefits continuation rights, and reduce minimum claim duration periods. The amendments are set to take effect on January 1, 2026. Below is an overview of the key updates to the PFML program and recommendations for employers based on the amendments.

Job Restoration Rights

As a reminder, nearly every Washington employee can use PFML if they have worked at least 820 hours during the qualifying period for any Washington employer. However, not all employees eligible for PFML benefits have job restoration rights. Currently, to have job restoration rights while on PFML, an employee must work for a Washington employer with 50 or more employees and have worked at least 12 months for the employer and at least 1,250 hours within the 12 months prior to the start of leave. The amendments eliminate the hours of work requirement to qualify for job restoration rights and also reduce the length of service requirement from 12 months to 180 calendar days. The expansion of job restoration rights will impact smaller employers in a phased approach, starting with employers who have 25 or more employees in 2026 with phasing occurring through 2028.

Please note, under both the current and amended law, employees eligible for job restoration are entitled to be restored to the position they held prior to commencing leave, or to be restored to an equivalent position with equivalent benefits, pay, and other terms and conditions of employment upon their return from leave.

Current Law:

• Employees have PFML job restoration rights if they work for an employer with 50 or more employees and have worked at least 12 months for the employer and at least 1,250 hours within the 12 months prior to commencing leave.

Amended Law:

• Employees have PFML job restoration rights if they work for their employer for at least 180 calendar days.
• Job restoration rights are expanded to cover most Washington employers under a phased timeline approach:
  • January 1, 2026 – December 31, 2026: Employers with 25+ employees
  • January 1, 2027 – December 31, 2027: Employers with 15+ employees
  • January 1, 2028 – Onward: Employers with 8+ employees

In addition, the amendments provide information about what an employee is required to do to "exercise" job restoration rights and also appear to require employers to notify employees of when their job restoration rights end, but these provisions are not entirely clear, so we anticipate further rulemaking and/or guidance related to these issues.

Stacking of Job Protected Leave

The amendments also aim to prevent employees from using leave under both the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and PFML separately to extend their job-protected leave time. Although employers still cannot require employees to apply for PFML benefits, employers will now be able to count FMLA leave toward the total amount of leave entitled to job protection under the PFML if they provide written notice within five business days of the employee's initial request for or use of FMLA leave and then monthly thereafter during the leave year.

Current Law:

• Employers do not have the ability to count FMLA leave toward the total amount of leave entitled to PFML job protections if the employee is NOT taking PFML leave concurrently with FMLA leave.

Amended Law:

• An employer can count leave taken under the FMLA against an employee's PFML job restoration period if they provide written notice to the employee within five business days of the employee's initial request for or use of FMLA leave and then monthly thereafter during the leave year. This is true even if the employee has not applied for and is not receiving PFML benefits.

We anticipate further rulemaking and/or guidance related to these amendments and the required notices. We will monitor developments in the rule-making process and provide updates.

Benefits Continuation Rights

Employees' benefit continuation rights are also changing significantly with the amendments. While benefits continuation rights are currently tied to at least one day of overlap between PFML and FMLA, the tie to FMLA will be eliminated with the amendments, and, instead, benefits continuation rights will be tied to job restoration rights.

Current Law:

• Health benefits must be continued for the duration of PFML if there is at least one day of overlap with FMLA leave.

Amended Law:

• Health benefits must be continued for any period of PFML in which the employee is entitled to job protection.

We expect clarification around the definition of "health" benefits with the removal of the reference to FMLA. Employers who sponsor health benefits will want to confirm that insurance and stop loss carriers are aware of this new requirement and amend plans as necessary to provide for continuation of coverage. Employers may continue to require employees to pay their portion of the health premiums during PFML as a condition of continued coverage but should make arrangements with employees at the start of the leave and consult with legal counsel before terminating coverage due to nonpayment.

Notably, this change in benefits continuation eligibility will likely reduce the period of time employees will have benefits continuation rights as a result of the changes to job protection and stacking but will also extend benefits protection requirements to smaller employers exempt from FMLA.

Minimum Leave Duration

The minimum leave duration is also changing with the recent amendments, and employees will be able to take leave in smaller increments of use.

Current Law:

• PFML may be taken in a minimum of eight consecutive hour increments.

Amended Law:

• PFML may be taken in a minimum of four consecutive hour increments.

Under PFML's current rules, if an employee claims eight consecutive hours at any point during the week, including on consecutive days, the minimum claim duration is satisfied.

Employer Notice Requirements

As noted above, the amendments contain several new employer notice provisions. This includes a requirement that the commissioner develop an employee rights notice to be distributed to employees who are absent due to family or medical leave. We anticipate further rulemaking or/and guidance related to these notices and will monitor developments in the rulemaking process and provide updates.

Layoff Considerations

Under Washington's Securing Timely Notification for Laid-Off Employees Act (the Washington mini-WARN Act), which takes effect on July 27, 2025, employers may not consider as candidates for layoff employees on PFML, subject to certain narrow exceptions, including for unforeseen business circumstances and natural disasters. This rule does not affect business closings or employees on other types of leave. Please see our prior advisory on the Washington mini-WARN Act.

Recommendations for Employers

Although the PFML amendments do not take effect until January 1, 2026, now is the time to begin training Human Resources staff and managers on the updated requirements and amending health plan documents and summaries. Payroll systems may also need to be updated to ensure that they can account for four-hour PFML leave increments. Please consult your DWT employment attorney with any questions, and stay tuned for more updates.