Washington Legislature Expands Worker Protections and Clarifies “Stacking” Limits for Paid Family and Medical Leave

On May 17, 2025, Washington Governor Bob Ferguson signed House Bill 1213, which both expands worker protections relating to Washington’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program (PFML) and allows an employer to limit an employee’s ability to “stack” their protected leave entitlements. Below is a summary of the key changes that start to take effect on January 1, 2026.

Job Protection Entitlements Expanded

Since enacted, employees taking leave under PFML have been entitled to job protections following a period of leave under PFML if the employee had: (1) worked for an employer with 50 or more employees, (2) been employed by the employer for at least 12 months before taking leave, and (3) worked at least 1,250 hours for that employer during the 12 months preceding the leave. Effective January 1, 2026, however, the eligibility requirements for job protections will be expanded to reduce the threshold to 180 days (6 months) of employment with the employer and expanded to smaller employers incrementally according to the following timelines:

• Beginning January 1, 2026, employees who have worked for an employer with 25 or more employees will be entitled to job protections;
• Beginning January 1, 2027, employees who have worked for an employer with 15 or more employees will be entitled to job protections; and
• Beginning January 1, 2028, employees who have worked for an employer with 8 or more employees will be entitled to job protections.

These job protections will apply to employees who:

• Take leave under PFML; or
• Take unpaid leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), if the employee is also eligible for leave under PFML during the same period. Subject to certain exceptions, when an employee is taking unpaid sick leave or temporary disability for pregnancy or childbirth, these job restoration rights will apply, even if the employee did not apply for or receive PFML benefits.

Job Restoration Entitlements: Use ‘Em or Lose ‘Em

To be eligible for the above-mentioned job protections, employees must exercise their right to reinstatement on the first scheduled workday after their continuous or combined intermittent leave. For any period of leave that exceeds either two workweeks of continuous leave or 14 workdays of combined intermittent leave, employers must provide the employee with at least five (5) days’ written notice of their first scheduled workday, as well as the estimated expiration of the employee’s restoration rights. This places a duty on the employer to ensure the employee is informed of the work schedule—a best practice may be to arrange and notify the employee of the first scheduled workday at the same time the employee is arranging for leave.

Limiting “Stacking” of Protected Leave Entitlements

Although HB 1213 expands a PFML-eligible employee’s job protection rights when they take unpaid FMLA leave, it also expressly allows an employer to limit an employee’s ability to “stack” their protected leave entitlements, as long as they provide the requisite notice.

To run leave under PFML and FMLA concurrently, the employer must provide written notice to the employee that states:

• The employer is running the two leaves concurrently, specifying the amount the employee has used and has remaining, as well as the amount of FMLA leave counting against the employee’s PFML leave balance;
• The leave year start and end dates being applied; and
• That the employee’s eligibility for leave under PFML is not impacted by the employer’s decision to run the leave concurrently.

In practice, this means that in order for an employer to consider PFML and FMLA to run “concurrently,” this notice must be provided to employees using leave. The employer must provide the above-described notices within five (5) business days of the employee’s initial request for leave; and on a monthly basis for the remainder of the leave year. A best practice may be to include this information on employee paystubs.

Note that HB 1213 grants the Washington Department of Labor and Industry (L&I) authority to conduct periodic audits of employer files and records for purposes of assisting or otherwise enforcing compliance with the PFML program.

New Exceptions to Health Insurance Coverage Continuation

HB 1213 incorporates new exceptions to an employer’s obligation to continue health insurance coverage during a period of leave under PFML. In general, an employer must maintain an employee’s health insurance coverage during a period of leave. Effective January 1, 2026, there will be three possible exceptions to this general rule:

1. If the employee is not employed by the employer at the time they file their application for PFML benefits, that employer is not required to continue the employee’s health benefits.
2. If the employee is not eligible for the above-described job protections under PFML, then the employee is also not entitled to any health benefit continuation.
3. If the employee did not timely exercise their right to employment protections under PFML, then they are not entitled to any health benefit continuation.

Employer Assistance Grants

HB 1213 also amends the eligibility requirements for employer assistance grants that may be provided due to costs incurred by the employer during a period of PFML leave and, in doing so, creates two categories of assistance grants:

1. Employers with 50 to 100 employees may apply for and receive a grant of up to $3,000 if the employer hired a temporary worker to replace an employee on leave under PFML for a period of seven days or more, or a grant of up to $1,000 for “significant additional wage-related costs” due to an employee taking leave under PFML. Eligible employers who receive assistance grants for these reasons will not be required to pay the employer share of PFML premiums for three years after their receipt of a grant.
2. Employers with fewer than 50 employees may apply for and receive a grant of up to $3,000 if the employer hired a temporary worker to replace an employee on leave under PFML for a period of seven days or more or for “significant additional wage-related costs” due to an employee taking leave under PFML. Eligible employers who receive assistance grants for these reasons will be required to pay the employer share of PFML premiums for three years after their receipt of a grant.

For either of these grants, employers should exercise caution on the specific grant requirements, as some terms of the grant may not be agreeable to some employers.

Key Takeaways for Employers

• Make sure your leave administrators and other HR personnel involved with employee leaves are up to date with these changes before they go into effect January 1, 2026.
• Keep an eye out for the revised statement of employee rights published by L&I. Each employer must post the revised statement of employee rights in a conspicuous place where notices to employees and applicants are customarily posted. This revised notice will include information regarding eligibility requirements, possible weekly benefits, application processes, employment protection rights, nondiscrimination rights, other protections, and information about how to file a complaint. As a reminder, these notices must be provided to the employee within 5 days of a request or notice of a need for PFML-qualifying leave. 
• Work with counsel to prepare or update your internal leave administration forms/template documents to satisfy the above-described written notice requirements before January 1, 2026, when these changes take effect.
• Evaluate or develop recordkeeping practices and/or protocols to ensure compliance with the above-referenced requirements, to ensure that you are prepared to respond to any inspection or audit by L&I.
• Consider whether it may be in your business interest to apply for an assistance grant, if eligible. This may be of particular interest to employers with 50 to 100 employees, as there is no longer a requirement that employers in this size range commit to paying the employer share of PFML premiums for any particular period of time.

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.