Maternity leave in Washington State runs through the state’s Paid Family and Medical Leave program, which replaces a portion of your wages while you recover from childbirth and bond with your baby. Weekly benefits reach up to $1,647 in 2026,1Washington State’s Paid Family and Medical Leave. Find Out How Paid Leave Works and you can take up to 12 weeks of medical leave and 12 weeks of bonding leave, capped at 16 weeks combined (18 if pregnancy involves incapacity). Starting January 1, 2026, job protection covers many more workers than it used to.
Who Qualifies
You need 820 hours of work in Washington during your qualifying period.2Washington State Legislature. RCW 50A.15.010 That’s roughly 16 hours a week over a year, so plenty of part-time workers make the threshold. The qualifying period is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you apply, or the last four completed quarters if the first calculation doesn’t get you to 820.3Washington State Legislature. RCW 50A.05.010 – Definitions
Hours from more than one employer count together. Most employees are covered automatically through payroll deductions. Self-employed workers and independent contractors aren’t covered by default but can opt in through the program’s online portal.4Washington State’s Paid Family and Medical Leave. Log In
How Many Weeks You Get
Washington splits paid leave into two types. Medical leave covers your own recovery from pregnancy and childbirth. Family leave covers bonding with your child. Each type provides up to 12 weeks in a 52-week period, and if you use both, the combined total caps at 16 weeks.5Washington State Legislature. RCW 50A.15.020
Pregnancy complications get you more. If you experience a serious health condition during pregnancy that results in incapacity, such as extended bed rest or C-section recovery, you can receive up to 14 weeks of medical leave. Paired with 12 weeks of bonding leave, that pushes the combined ceiling to 18 weeks.5Washington State Legislature. RCW 50A.15.020 Your healthcare provider documents the incapacity on your certification form.1Washington State’s Paid Family and Medical Leave. Find Out How Paid Leave Works
One detail worth knowing: the program normally has a seven-day waiting period before benefits start. That waiting period does not apply to medical leave taken for childbirth or family leave taken for bonding afterward. For maternity leave, benefits start from day one of your approved leave.6Washington State Paid Family and Medical Leave. Concise Explanatory Statement – Waiting Period
How Much You’ll Be Paid
Benefits are calculated from your average weekly wage during the qualifying period. Lower-wage workers receive a higher replacement rate, up to 90% of typical pay, and the weekly benefit is capped at $1,647 in 2026.7Washington State’s Paid Family and Medical Leave. How Paid Leave Works1Washington State’s Paid Family and Medical Leave. Find Out How Paid Leave Works8Washington Employment Security Department. Washington’s Average Wage Increased to $95,160 in 2024
In practical terms: earning $800 a week, you’d receive around $720. Earning $2,500 a week, you’d hit the $1,647 cap. The calculator at paidleave.wa.gov lets you estimate your specific benefit before applying.
Your employer can also offer supplemental payments on top of your state benefit to bring you closer to full salary. Supplemental payments do not reduce your state benefit, and you don’t report them on your weekly claim.9Washington State’s Paid Family and Medical Leave. File Your Weekly Claim
Job Protection When You Return
Getting paid only helps if you still have a job to come back to. Starting January 1, 2026, Washington significantly expanded its job protection rules. If your employer has 25 or more employees and you’ve worked there at least 180 days, you’re entitled to return to the same position or an equivalent one with the same pay, benefits, and working conditions.10Washington State Legislature. RCW 50A.35.010 – Employment Protection The employer size threshold drops further in coming years: 15 employees in 2027, and 8 employees by 2028.
That’s a real change from the prior rules, which required 50 or more employees and 12 months of tenure. Dropping the tenure requirement to 180 days and removing the minimum hours threshold brings far more workers under protection.11Washington State’s Paid Family and Medical Leave. Job Protection Requirements for Employers
The exceptions are narrow. Employers can deny reinstatement to salaried employees in the top 10% of earners within 75 miles of the workplace, but only if restoring the position would cause substantial economic harm and only after giving the employee written notice during their leave.10Washington State Legislature. RCW 50A.35.010 – Employment Protection An employer can also decline to restore a position that genuinely would have been eliminated anyway, through a layoff or business closure.11Washington State’s Paid Family and Medical Leave. Job Protection Requirements for Employers
How It Works With Federal FMLA
If you’re eligible for both Washington Paid Leave and federal Family and Medical Leave Act protections, the two run at the same time. Using FMLA does not reduce your state benefit, so you get wage replacement from Washington while also using up your 12 weeks of federally protected unpaid leave.1Washington State’s Paid Family and Medical Leave. Find Out How Paid Leave Works FMLA applies only to employers with 50 or more employees and requires 12 months of tenure, so it covers fewer people than the state program. When both apply, your employer must maintain your group health benefits under FMLA.
How to Apply
Give your employer at least 30 days’ written notice if your leave is foreseeable. You don’t have to explain why; you just tell them when it starts and ends. If the birth happens earlier than expected, notify your employer as soon as you can.12Washington State Paid Family and Medical Leave. Notice to Employer
The application goes through a SecureAccess Washington (SAW) account, the state’s centralized login system. Once your SAW account is set up, you link it to Paid Family and Medical Leave and start your claim.4Washington State’s Paid Family and Medical Leave. Log In You’ll need two things to submit:
- Identity verification: one valid U.S. government-issued photo ID such as a passport, passport card, or driver’s license, or two documents from the program’s alternate ID list. A Social Security number alone is not sufficient.13Washington State’s Paid Family and Medical Leave. Identification Verification Documents
- Medical certification: a form completed by your healthcare provider confirming your pregnancy, expected delivery date, or need for recovery time. The form is available on the Paid Leave website.
Processing takes several weeks, so apply as early as possible once you’re in your leave window.
Filing Weekly Claims
Approval is only the first step. To receive payments, you file a weekly claim for every week of your leave. Claim weeks run Sunday through Saturday, and you file after the week ends. The department must process submitted weekly claims within 14 days. Each weekly claim asks whether your circumstances have changed and confirms you missed at least four consecutive hours of work that week. Once approved, payment typically arrives within three to five business days by direct deposit or on a prepaid card.9Washington State’s Paid Family and Medical Leave. File Your Weekly Claim
How Benefits Are Taxed
Family leave benefits (bonding with your child) count as taxable income for federal purposes but are not subject to Social Security or Medicare taxes. Medical leave benefits are split: the portion tied to your own premium contributions is generally tax-free, while any portion tied to employer contributions is taxable. Washington does not have a state income tax, so state taxes are not a factor.