Washington State’s paid medical leave program pays part of your wages when a serious health condition keeps you from working, up to $1,647 per week in 2026 for as much as 12 weeks in a claim year. It’s one half of the state’s Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program, run by the Employment Security Department and funded through payroll premiums. You qualify based on hours worked in Washington, not on who your employer is, and a 2026 rule change now protects both your job and your health insurance while you’re out, for more workers than before.
Who Qualifies
You need 820 hours of work in Washington during a qualifying period. That period is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you apply. If those four quarters don’t get you to 820 hours, the state checks the last four completed quarters instead.
Hours from every Washington employer count toward the total. Two part-time jobs, seasonal work, or a mix of employers across the year can combine to meet the threshold. You don’t have to be working for a particular employer for any set length of time to be eligible for benefits — job protection is a separate question, covered below.
A few groups fall outside the program. Employees of federally recognized tribes are not covered unless the tribe has opted in. Workers at companies that run a state-certified voluntary plan use that plan instead of the state program; those private plans must match or beat state benefit levels. Self-employed workers and independent contractors aren’t automatically covered but can opt in through the Employment Security Department, with a three-year minimum commitment.
What Counts as a Serious Health Condition
Medical leave covers an illness, injury, or physical or mental condition that requires either inpatient care or ongoing treatment by a healthcare provider. The file gives recovery from surgery, cancer treatment, severe back injuries, chronic conditions like Crohn’s disease that cause recurring episodes of incapacity, and mental health conditions like major depression requiring continuing care as examples.
The key test is incapacity plus treatment. A short-term cold or a routine checkup won’t qualify. A condition that keeps you from working and that your provider is actively treating generally will.
How Much You’ll Get Each Week
The benefit formula replaces a bigger share of wages for lower earners and a smaller share for higher earners. It starts with your average weekly wage (AWW), which the Employment Security Department calculates by taking your two highest-paid quarters in the qualifying period and dividing the total by 26.
If your AWW is at or below 50% of the statewide average weekly wage, your benefit is 90% of your AWW. If your AWW is higher than that, the formula blends two rates: 90% of the first half of the state average, plus 50% of whatever your AWW is above that midpoint. The result is rounded down to the nearest dollar.
In 2026, the maximum weekly benefit is $1,647 and the minimum is $100. Those figures adjust each year with the statewide average wage.
How Long You Can Be on Leave
You can take up to 12 weeks of paid medical leave in a single claim year. If you also need family leave in the same year — for a new child or to care for a family member — the combined cap rises to 16 weeks. A separate rule allows up to 18 weeks total if you experience a serious health condition related to pregnancy that causes incapacity.
Leave doesn’t have to run in one block. You can take it intermittently, a few days or hours at a time, as long as you stay within your approved dates and hours. When your approved hours run out, both your benefits and your job protection end, even if your approved leave window hasn’t closed.
Whether Your Job Is Protected
Getting paid while you’re out is one thing; coming back to the same job is another. Starting January 1, 2026, employers with 25 or more employees must return you to the same position or an equivalent one with the same pay, benefits, and working conditions. That threshold drops to 15 employees in 2027 and 8 employees in 2028.
To qualify for job protection, you must have worked for your current employer for at least 180 calendar days before taking leave. If you work for a smaller employer that falls below the current size threshold, you can still receive PFML benefits — you just don’t have a state-law right to your old job when you return.
A separate 2026 change requires employers to keep your health insurance active during any period of job-protected PFML leave, on the same terms as if you were still working. Before this change, employers only had to continue health coverage when the leave also qualified under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act. Now, if your leave is job-protected under PFML, your coverage continues regardless of whether FMLA applies.
How PFML Fits With Other Pay and Benefits
PFML and federal FMLA usually run at the same time when both apply, and using FMLA doesn’t reduce your PFML benefit. FMLA only reaches employers with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius, so workers at smaller employers rely on state law alone.
Your employer cannot make you use up vacation or sick leave before starting PFML. You may choose to use employer-provided paid time off on top of your benefit, but your combined payments can’t exceed your normal wages. Short-term disability generally stacks with PFML, though your disability plan may have its own rules.
Two things don’t mix with PFML at all. You’re disqualified from PFML for any week you receive workers’ compensation payments, and you can’t collect unemployment insurance and PFML for the same period.
Notice and Medical Certification
If your leave is foreseeable — a scheduled surgery, for example — you have to give your employer written notice at least 30 days in advance. For emergencies or sudden conditions, notify your employer as soon as you reasonably can. Late notice can delay your benefit payments.
To apply, you’ll need proof of identity (driver’s license, passport, or similar) and a medical certification completed by your healthcare provider. The certification should state the condition’s start date, expected duration, and whether you need continuous or intermittent leave. The Employment Security Department has a downloadable medical leave form, but an FMLA form or a doctor’s note works too, as long as it contains the required information.
Your employer does not see your medical details. The department shares your application dates, requested leave dates, leave type, and decision status with your employer, but withholds your health information, the specific reason for the leave, your benefit amount, and whether the leave is continuous or intermittent.
Applying and Filing Weekly Claims
Create an account through the SecureAccess Washington (SAW) portal at secureaccess.wa.gov and add Paid Family and Medical Leave as a service. Upload your identity documents and medical certification through the online system. The Employment Security Department verifies your 820 hours and reviews the medical basis of your claim. Current processing time runs three to four weeks.
After approval, you file a weekly claim for every week of your leave period, including weeks you don’t want benefits. Report any hours worked or other income for that week. By law, weekly claims are processed within 14 days. Payments come by direct deposit or state-issued debit card.
Most applicants serve a one-week unpaid waiting period at the start of their leave. Medical leave taken during the postnatal period is one of the exceptions; others involve parental bonding, loss of a child, and military exigency.
Taxes on Your Benefits
The IRS has not issued definitive guidance on whether Washington PFML benefits are taxable federal income. The Employment Security Department does not issue a 1099-G for medical leave benefits, even if you also took family leave in the same year (family leave does get a 1099-G).
Taxes are not withheld from your benefit payments. If medical leave benefits turn out to be taxable, you could owe at filing time. A tax professional can help you decide whether to make estimated payments while you’re on leave.
If You’re Denied
You have 30 days from the date on your denial notice to appeal. File the appeal by mail or fax as a signed letter with your name, claim ID or Social Security number, address, phone number, and a clear explanation of which decision you’re appealing and why you disagree. You can attach documentation that wasn’t in your original application.
The Employment Security Department forwards your case and files to the Office of Administrative Hearings, which schedules a hearing and sends you the date and time. The common reasons for denial are falling short of 820 hours, incomplete medical certification, or a provider description that doesn’t establish a serious health condition. If certification was the issue, a more detailed form from your provider before the hearing often changes the outcome.