Leaves of Absence

The Paid Family and Medical Leave program is a mandatory statewide insurance program that provides paid family and medical leave to eligible employees. The program is administered by the Employment Security Department (ESD).

Washington’s Paid Family and Medical Leave program does not replace the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

In many cases, PFML and FMLA will run at the same time. To apply for PFML visit Washington Paid Family & Medical Leave.

Eligibility
Employees can receive PFML benefits if they meet eligibility criteria and experience a qualifying event.

Eligible employees:

• Have worked at least eight hundred twenty (820) hours in the state of Washington during the “qualifying period”
• The “qualifying period” is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters or
• The last four completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the application for leave.

Qualifying events

Family leave

• Leave to bond with the employee’s child during the first twelve months after the child’s birth, or the first twelve months after the placement of a child under the age of eighteen with the employee;
• Leave to participate in providing care, including physical or psychological care, for an immediate family member (spouse, child, or parent) with a serious health condition
• Leave because of qualifying military exigency as permitted under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.

Medical leave

• Medical leave is any leave taken by an employee from work due to the employee’s own serious health condition. Serious health condition means an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves inpatient care in a hospital, hospice, or residential medical care facility, including any period of incapacity; or
• Continuing treatment by a health care provider for:
  • An illness or injury that incapacitated you for three or more consecutive days.
  • A chronic serious health condition (like diabetes or epilepsy).
  • Incapacity during pregnancy or for prenatal care.
  • Treatment for substance abuse.
  • Any period of absence from work to receive treatments and recover, like for radiation, chemotherapy or dialysis.
    The healthcare provider will determine whether the illness or injury meets the definition of a “serious health condition.”

Family member definitions

“Family member” means a child, grandchild, grandparent, parent, sibling, or spouse of an employee.
“Child” includes a biological, adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, or a child to whom the employee stands in loco parentis, is a legal guardian, or is a de facto parent, regardless of age or dependency status.
“Grandchild” means a child of the employee’s child.
“Grandparent” means a parent of the employee’s parent.
“Parent” means the biological, adoptive, de facto, or foster parent, stepparent, or legal guardian of an employee or the employee’s spouse, or an individual who stood in loco parentis to an employee when the employee was a child.
“Spouse” means a husband, wife, or state registered domestic partner.

Employee benefits
Beginning January 1, 2020, family and medical leave is available, and benefits are payable to qualified employees. The weekly PFML benefit amount is calculated by ESD and will depend on how much the employee earns in a typical week. The maximum weekly benefit is $1,000.

Minimum Claim Duration
The minimum claim duration payment is for eight (8) consecutive hours of leave.
Maximum Claim Duration
Qualified Washington workers are eligible for:

• Up to 12 weeks of paid family or medical leave.
• Up to 16 weeks of leave when family and medical leave are used in combination (e.g., birth mother pregnancy and parental leave).
• An additional two (2) weeks of leave is available as a result of pregnancy complications.

Notice – requesting leave
Employees must provide at least 30-day notice to the Leave Department before the leave begins for a foreseeable event such as the birth or placement of a child or a planned surgery. If the need for leave is unforeseeable, like an accident or sudden illness, employees must provide notice as soon as practical.

Filing a Claim
Beginning January 1, 2020, individuals will be able to apply for paid leave benefits online through the esd.wa.gov website. Filing a claim for paid leave benefits with ESD is a separate process from taking a leave of absence from the District. Even when an employee has submitted medical or other documentation to support their need for a leave of absence from the District, ESD will ask for documentation to support their claim for paid benefits.

The Employment Security Department is still developing their claim process, but generally individuals will create an online account with ESD, provide contact information, leave type requested, dates of the leave, date notice was provided to the District, and documentation supporting the leave of absence. ESD will use hours and wage information they receive quarterly from all employers in Washington to determine eligibility.

After filing a claim, ESD will contact the District to confirm details of the employee’s claim. Once ESD approves the claim, individuals will submit weekly claims to ESD for the paid benefit.

For all leaves except birth or placement of a child, there is a 7-day waiting period before an employee will be eligible for PFML benefits. Individuals have 12 months from the date of a child’s birth or placement (foster or adoption) to take family leave. Eligible employees whose child was born or placed in 2019 can receive paid benefits beginning Jan. 1, 2020, for up to 12 months following the birth or placement.

Resources
Additional information as well as a downloadable checklist is available on the paidleave.wa.gov website or refer to the Washington Paid Family & Medical Leave Parents' and Patient and Family Guides.

Family Medical Leave

What is the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)?

The FMLA entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons with continuation of group health insurance coverage and under the same terms and conditions, as if the employee had not taken leave. Eligible employees are entitled to:

• Twelve work weeks of leave in a 12-month period for:
• The birth of a child and to care for the newborn child within one year of birth;
• The placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care and to care for the newly placed child within one year of placement;
• To care for the employee’s spouse, child, or parent who has a serious health condition;
• An employees own serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of his or her job;
• Any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a covered military member on “covered active duty;” or
• Twenty-six workweeks of leave during a single 12-month period to care for a covered service member with a serious injury or illness if the eligible employee is the service member’s spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin (military caregiver leave).

Intermittent or reduced schedule FMLA 

The FMLA permits employees to take leave on an intermittent basis or to work a reduced schedule under certain circumstances. An Intermittent/reduced schedule leave may be taken when medically necessary to care for a seriously ill family member, or because of the employee's own serious health condition. Intermittent time will not be permitted under any other FMLA provision, without prior District approval. 

Am I eligible?

Based on federal requirements, the District uses a two-question assessment to determine whether you are eligible for FMLA protection.

Question 1: Have you worked for the District for at least 12 months at the time of your request for leave? 

The 12-month requirement includes only the time you have been employed with benefits and would not include time as a substitute or hourly outside agency hire.  

Question 2: Have you worked for the District for at least 1250 hours in the 12 months prior to your first day of leave?

The 1250 hours must be actual worked hours. If you have worked extra time sheet hours or overtime hours, all of these hours will be counted towards the 1250 requirement. All unpaid time off, non-work days and/or sick leave taken, may not count towards the 1250 hours. If you are less than full time at the time of your request, you likely do not meet the hourly requirement for FMLA. 

If your answer is "yes" to both questions 1 & 2, you may be eligible for this entitlement.

Method of administering FMLA

The District uses the "rolling" calendar method to determine FMLA eligibility. This is a 12 month period measured backward from the date an employee has used any FMLA leave or work hours. Under the ‘‘rolling’’ 12-month period, each time an employee takes FMLA leave, the remaining leave entitlement would be the balance of the 12 weeks, which has not been used during the immediately preceding 12 months.

EXAMPLE: Michael requests three weeks of FMLA leave to begin on July 31st. The District looks back 12 months (from July 31st back to the previous August 1st) to see if any FMLA leave had been used. Michael had not taken any previous FMLA leave, so he is entitled to the three weeks he requested and has nine more weeks available.

 

"Key" Employee Exception and Education provisions

Under limited circumstances where restoration to employment will cause "substantial and grievous economic injury" to its operations, the District may refuse to reinstate certain highly-paid, salaried "key" employees. In order to do so, the District must notify the employee in writing of his/her status as a "key" employee (as defined by FMLA), the reasons for denying job restoration, and provide the employee a reasonable opportunity to return to work after so notifying the employee. The District reserves the right to require an approved FMLA leave to be taken in blocks of time, when the leave is needed intermittently or when leave is required near the end of a school term (semester).

Other times FMLA may apply

The District determines when to label a leave as “FMLA” based on the facts of each individual situation. When we know facts that indicate your leave might be covered under FMLA, including and up to the presence of a doctor's note and/or notification from an employee or supervisor of hospitalization, surgery, injury or any other medical condition that prohibits you from work, we are required to inform you of your rights under this law. All employees are responsible for providing enough information, so that the District can make an FMLA determination.

What FMLA is not

FMLA is a designation of time off work, while you recover from a serious health condition. It is not an entitlement to pay or an accrued type of leave. If your leave needs meet the FMLA criteria, it will be designated as FMLA, even if you are using accrued sick or other paid leave. FMLA is also not a "blanket" doctor's note for absences that are unrelated to the documented serious health condition. You may be required to provide separate doctor's notes, for unrelated illnesses that result in absences from work. 

Maintenance of Medical Benefits while on FMLA  

A covered employer is required to maintain group health insurance coverage, including family coverage, for an employee on FMLA leave on the same terms as if the employee continued to work.

Where appropriate, arrangements will need to be made for employees taking unpaid FMLA leave to pay their share of medical benefit premiums. The District will continue the employer payment of all eligible medical benefits during the FMLA time. If an employee arrives in an unpaid status, while on an approved FMLA leave, it is the responsibility of the employee to contact the Payroll Office with their intent to continue coverage. The District's obligation to pay the employer portion of medical benefits stop, if the employee's premium payment is more than 30 days late and the employer has given the employee written notice at least 15 days in advance, advising that coverage will cease if payment is not received. All employees who arrive in an unpaid status will be notified of their rights under COBRA or self-pay continuation.

Other Benefits

Certain types of earned benefits, such as seniority or paid leave, need not continue to accrue during periods of unpaid FMLA leave, provided that such benefits do not accrue for employees on other types of unpaid leave. For other benefits, such as elected life insurance coverage, the District and the employee may make arrangements to continue benefits during periods of unpaid FMLA leave. The District may elect to continue such benefits to ensure that the employee will be eligible to be restored to the same benefits upon returning to work.

In addition to the maintenance of District benefits, employees who are out due to a disability for more than 60 days, should request information regarding short term disability and long term disability. These benefits both have a claim process that can take up to 6 weeks to process. The District's short term disability (optional benefit) covers the first 90 days of a documented disability. The long term disability (mandatory benefit) begins on the 91st day. Please contact the Payroll Office with your inquiry regarding your eligibility for these benefits and required claim process.

Job Restoration

Upon return from FMLA leave, an employee must be restored to his or her original job, or to an "equivalent" job, which means virtually identical to the original job in terms of pay, benefits, and other employment terms and conditions. In addition, an employee's use of FMLA leave cannot result in the loss of any employment benefit that the employee earned or was entitled to before using (but not necessarily during) FMLA leave.

Additional information regarding the Family Medical Leave:

Compliance Assistance: Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Links to various sources of information about FMLA.

Fact Sheet on FMLA
Covers the major requirements of FMLA and updates to the FMLA regulations.

FMLA Employee Guide
Summarizes FMLA provisions and regulations and provides answers to the most frequently asked questions.