December 19, 2018 --

Employers Prepare: Washington Paid Family & Medical Leave Premiums Start January 1st!
By Nicole Elgin & Kyle Abraham
By Barran Liebman LLP
Oregon law firm
On January 1, 2019, Washington will become the fifth state in the country with Paid Family and Medical Leave. This new program will allow employees to receive a portion of their wages when they are on protected leaves of absence.
The law requires employers with Washington employees to start collecting premiums and reporting hours on January 1, 2019. The program will be funded by premiums collected on 0.4% of gross wages. The premiums are shared between employers, responsible for 37% of the total premium, and employees, responsible for the remaining 63%. Employers are required to withhold the employee-portion from the employees’ paychecks, and pay the total premiums to the Employment Security Department (ESD). Employers with less than 50 employees are not required to pay the employer-portion of the premiums, but will still be required to collect, record, and remit the employees’ premiums to the state. Employers are also required to report employee hours and wages to ESD.
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