Recent and significant amendments to Washington’s Paid Family Medical Leave law, RCW Ch. 50A (PFML), start taking effect January 1, 2026. The full pending PFML changes (as passed by the Washington Legislature) are available here. Key changes and takeaways are summarized below.
Key Changes and Takeaways for Employers:
Job protections expanded and accelerated – Effective January 1, 2026, employees need only be employed by an employer with 25 or more employees and be employed 180 days—without any minimum hours-worked threshold—to qualify for job protection under PFML (employer must restore the employee to the same or substantially equivalent position after leave). These PFML job protections expand to even smaller employers by 2027 (15 or more employees) and 2028 (8 or more employees). PFML previously only mandated job protection for employees of employers with 50 or more employees and only if the employee was employed 12 months and had worked 1,250 hours the year prior.
Options to limit FMLA and PFML leave stacking – For larger employers (50 or more employees) covered by the federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), employers will have options for minimizing the current challenges with employees “stacking” the 12 weeks of FMLA and then PFML leave consecutively—resulting in, for example, employees taking 24 weeks or more of combined FMLA + PFML job-protected leave.
Effective January 1, 2026, if an employee could, but does not, utilize PFML concurrently with FMLA leave, the employer in most situations may count the FMLA-only leave against maximum periods of job protections the employee would have received for PFML leave—typically up to 12, 16, or 18 workweeks, depending on the leave reason. After that maximum period on leave, the employee can lose the right to job restoration under both FMLA and PFML, even if the employee delays (or does not seek) PFML leave (employees may still seek PFML paid benefits from the state for the remaining PFML leave duration but would not be entitled to job restoration.)
To invoke options to limit any combined FMLA + PFML job-protection period, an employer must provide the employee certain timely written notices upon the employee’s requesting FMLA leave and at required intervals during leave. If an employer fails to do so properly, PFML will protect the employee’s job for the entire FMLA and PFML leave periods—even if the employee stacks such leaves consecutively.
The Washington Employment Security Department (ESD) is currently developing regulations that will provide more details on this option to limit leave stacking, as well other aspects of the recent PFML amendments (expected before end of 2025).
Healthcare coverage continuation expanded – PFML currently requires an employer to continue an employee’s healthcare coverage while on PFML leave only if the employer and the employee are also covered by the federal FMLA (50 or more employees, etc.) and the employee’s PFML leave overlaps with FMLA leave (even by one day). Effective January 1, 2026, any employer that is required to provide job-protected PFML leave must now continue healthcare coverage for the full time the employee is entitled to PFML job-restoration protection.
This change expands coverage mandates for smaller employers not typically covered by FMLA (see above for phase-in timelines by employer size). For larger employers with employees already covered by FMLA, this change would require coverage continuation sooner for newer (non-FMLA eligible) employees at 180 days of employment but may reduce continuation periods for already FMLA-eligible employees if the employer properly invokes options to reduce any combined FMLA + PFML job-protection period (see above).
Minimum initial qualifying PFML leave increment reduced – Under current PFML law, employees must be absent from work for PFML-qualifying reasons for at least an initial eight (8) consecutive hours in the week to claim any PFML benefits for that week. After that threshold is met, shorter increments may also be claimed as PFML that week. Effective January 1, 2026, only four (4) consecutive hours of absence for a PFML-covered reason in the week will be required to trigger PFML benefits for that week. This expansion allows employees to use PFML in shorter increments and allows employers to more readily and concurrently reduce intermittent leave that is covered by both the FMLA and PFML.
Who is Affected?
Nearly all employers with any Washington-based employees, with limited exceptions.
When Do the Changes Take Effect?
January 1, 2026 (with some later phase-in requirements for employers with fewer than 25 employees).
What Should Employers Do Now?
- Review and update current HR policies and procedures. Employers should review current policies and procedures now, especially those related to leave, to ensure compliance with the forthcoming 2026 PFML changes. Employers should also consider whether and how the employer will implement (compliantly) any optional changes to their policies, such as options to limit stacking of FMLA and PFML leave.
- Review and address healthcare insurance continuation updates. Employers should review their current healthcare insurance coverage plans to determine if updates are required to comply with PFML’s forthcoming expansion of coverage continuation mandates.
- Consider how forthcoming PFML changes may affect pending leave requests. Even though PFML amendments do not take effect until January 1, 2026, employers may also want to consider how the changes may affect employees who request leave in these final months of 2025, particularly if the leave will span 2025 and 2026.
- Watch for additional PFML regulations and guidance. ESD is currently developing regulations to implement the recent PFML legislative amendments, which are expected before the end of 2025. Past regulations have often provided significant (and sometimes surprising) interpretations and details on PFML legislative mandates, so employers should be prepared for additional updates even as (or after) these amendments take effect in January.
Employers who wish to follow ESD’s PFML rulemaking and updates directly (including options to participate and comment on pending PFML regulations) can find more information on ESD’s rulemaking website here.
Williams Kastner’s Labor & Employment team will continue to monitor and provide key PFML updates. Our team is also available to review your policies and strategize on options and best practices for integrating these changes.
Stay tuned for information on our upcoming Labor & Employment seminar this spring! We will share details as soon as they are available.