Effective July 27, 2025, Washington House Bill 1875 will expand the qualifying reasons for which an employee may use their accrued and available state-mandated paid sick leave to include time off for an employee to prepare for or participate in any judicial or administrative immigration proceeding involving either the employee or their family member.
For purposes of this amendment to Washington’s paid sick leave law, a “family member” is defined to include a child, grandchild, grandparent, parent, sibling, or spouse of an employee, as well as an individual who regularly resides in the employee’s home or where the relationship creates an expectation that the employee care for the person and that the individual depends on the employee for care.
Employers may request verification of an employee’s need for leave relating to an immigration proceeding. In response to such a request, the employee may submit (and the employer must accept) documentation that the employee (or their family member) is involved in a qualifying immigration proceeding from any of the following persons: an advocate for immigrants or refugees, an attorney, a member of the clergy, or other professional. Alternatively, the employee may submit (and the employer must accept) a written statement from the employee that they (or their family member) are involved in a qualifying immigration proceeding and the leave was taken for a qualifying purpose. Note, however, that the supporting documentation submitted to the employer must not disclose any personally identifiable information about a person’s immigrant status or underlying immigration protection.
Key Takeaways for Employers
- Review and update your employee handbooks and sick leave policies to ensure they comply with these changes before they take effect on July 27, 2025.
- Stay tuned for our upcoming blog post—“Washington Legislature Expands Domestic Violence Leave Act to Include Leave for Proceedings Relating to Hate Crimes”—discussing upcoming changes to Washington’s Domestic Violence Leave Act and consider whether future changes must be made to your Washington paid sick leave policy when Senate Bill 5101 takes effect on January 1, 2026.
The legal issues impacting this topic are and will continue to be ever-changing (Employment Law in Motion!), and since publication of this blog post, new or additional information not referenced in this blog post may be available.
This article is provided for informational purposes only—it does not constitute legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship between the firm and the reader. Readers should consult legal counsel before taking action relating to the subject matter of this article.
