The Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) Program, which is administered by the Employment Security Department (ESD), provides partial wage replacement benefits to employees on leave for specified family and medical reasons.  An eligible employee may access PFML benefits for a qualifying event if the employee worked at least 820 hours during a qualifying year.  The 820 hours can be satisfied in one or more positions with one or more employers.  An eligible employee can access up to 12 weeks of medical leave or family leave benefits, or up to 16 to 18 weeks of combined medical and family leave benefits in a year.  An eligible employee may receive benefits up to 90 percent of their wages, subject to a weekly maximum, which is $1,542 in 2025.

Premium.

The PFML Program is funded through premiums paid by employers and employees.  Employers collect the premium and remit the funds to the ESD on a quarterly basis, which are then deposited into the Family and Medical Leave Insurance Account (Account). 

The premium is imposed upon each employee's taxable wages up to the Social Security maximum taxable earnings cap, which is $176,100 in 2025.  The total premium rate has two components:  a family leave share and a medical leave share.  The split between the shares is based on the percentage of paid claims in each category in the previous year.  For the medical leave share, employers with 50 or more employees pay 55 percent, and employees pay 45 percent.  Employers with fewer than 50 employees are exempt from paying premiums.  For the family leave share, employees pay 100 percent unless the employer chooses to pay a portion.

The total premium rate for combined family leave and medical leave benefits is established through a statutory formula and adjusted annually by the ESD.  On or around October 20 of each year, the ESD must calculate the total premium rate for the following year, as follows:

• calculate an amount that equals 140 percent of the prior fiscal year's expenses, including the total amount of benefits paid and the ESD's administrative costs;
• subtract the balance of the Account as of September 30;
• divide the difference by the prior fiscal year's taxable wages; and
• carry the quotient to the fourth decimal place and round up to the nearest one-hundredth of a percent.

The total premium rate is capped at 1.2 percent.  The total premium rate must be adjusted when the ESD determines the calculation based on the formula exceeds a rate necessary to maintain a three-month reserve.  "Three-month reserve" means the average monthly expenses, including the total amount of benefits paid and the ESD's administrative costs, in the prior 12 calendar months from the date of the calculation, multiplied by three. 

The total premium for 2025 is 0.92 percent of taxable wages, of which 71.52 percent is allocated to employees and 28.48 percent is allocated to employers, except employers with fewer than 50 employees are not required to pay the premium.

Office of Actuarial Services Report.

The Office of Actuarial Services within the ESD annually reports to the PFML Advisory Committee on the experience and financial condition of the Account, including the lowest future premium rates necessary to maintain solvency in the next four years while limiting fluctuation in premium rates.  These reports must also be sent to the Legislature through 2028.  In 2024 the Office of Actuarial Services reported that overall claims in the program have been higher than projected, and there will be material increases to the premium rate until it reaches the 1.2 percent cap in 2027.  The Office of Actuarial Services recommended exploring shifting from the statutory premium formula to an actuarial rate setting approach. 

Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee Report.

The Legislature directed the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC) to evaluate certain elements in the PFML Program, including the program administration, accounting practices, and financial stability.  In a final report published in January of this year, JLARC made several findings, including that the statutory premium rate formula does not produce enough revenue to cover program expenses, and that the program will have a negative balance for portions of 2025 and 2026.  The consulting actuary with JLARC recommended using a forward-looking rate-setting approach and maintaining a financial reserve sufficient to cover shortfalls.

The amended bill makes incremental increases to the cap on the total premium rate every two years, from January 1, 2027, to January 1, 2033, until it reaches 2 percent (rather than maintaining the 1.2 percent cap as provided in the underlying bill).  The amended bill also requires the premium rate to be at the lowest rate necessary to establish a four-month reserve (rather than a three-month reserve) by the end of 2030 and each year thereafter.