Washington State PTO Laws: Sick Leave, PFML, and Final Payouts

Washington State PTO laws draw a sharp line between leave your employer must provide and leave that is entirely up to company policy. Every worker in the state earns paid sick leave from day one, and most workers can tap the state’s Paid Family and Medical Leave insurance program for longer absences. Vacation and general PTO, on the other hand, are not required at all. That split shapes almost every question about how leave accrues, when you can use it, and whether you get paid out when you leave the job.

Paid Sick Leave Every Employer Must Provide

Washington requires every employer to provide paid sick leave, no matter the size of the business or whether you work full-time, part-time, seasonally, or as a temp.¹ You start earning it your first day of work at a minimum rate of one hour for every 40 hours worked. It is paid at your normal hourly rate.

One thing that catches new hires: while you accrue immediately, your employer can require you to wait up to 90 calendar days before actually using any of it.² If the same employer rehires you within 12 months, the days you already worked count toward that 90-day clock.

What Sick Leave Covers

You can use accrued sick leave for your own physical or mental health, preventive care, or to help a family member with any of the same. It also covers absences when a public official closes your workplace or your child’s school for a health-related reason.³

A category many workers miss: paid sick leave also covers absences related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking under the state’s Domestic Violence Leave Act (RCW 49.76). Qualifying activities include seeking legal help, attending court, relocating for safety, and getting related medical treatment.³

Carryover and Retaliation

At year end, your employer must let you carry at least 40 unused sick-leave hours into the next year. That is the floor; an employer can allow more.¹ Your employer cannot count sick-leave use as an absence that triggers discipline, and cannot retaliate against you for exercising your rights under the law.⁴

Paid Family and Medical Leave

Separate from daily sick leave, Washington runs a statewide insurance program called Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML). It provides longer-term wage replacement when you have a serious health condition, need to bond with a new child, or must care for a seriously ill family member.⁵ Eligibility is portable: hours worked for any Washington employer during the qualifying period count toward the threshold.

Who Qualifies and For How Long

You qualify for benefits once you have worked at least 820 hours in Washington during the qualifying base period.⁶ The leave available:

Up to 12 weeks of family leave in a 52-week period to bond with a new child, care for a seriously ill family member, or handle certain military family situations.
Up to 12 weeks of medical leave in a 52-week period for your own serious health condition.
A combined cap of 16 weeks if you use both types in the same year.
Up to two additional weeks (for a maximum of 18) if you experience a pregnancy-related condition that causes incapacity.⁵

What the Benefit Pays

PFML does not replace all of your wages. The benefit is calculated from your average weekly wages compared to the state average, with lower earners receiving a higher replacement percentage. For 2026, the maximum weekly benefit is $1,647, and the state adjusts this cap each year. Both employers and employees fund the program through payroll premiums, though businesses with fewer than 50 employees are not required to pay the employer share.⁷ Employees at those smaller employers still pay their portion and still receive full benefits.

Job Protection During PFML

Starting in 2026, you have job-protected PFML leave if you work for an employer with 25 or more employees and you have worked there for at least 180 calendar days before your leave starts.⁸ Job protection means your employer must hold your position or restore you to an equivalent role when you return. Workers at very small employers can still collect PFML benefits, but may not have a guaranteed job to come back to.

How PFML Interacts With Federal FMLA

Federal FMLA and Washington PFML cover a lot of the same ground, but with different eligibility rules, and many workers qualify for both at once. When you do, the two leaves generally run at the same time rather than back to back. Using FMLA does not reduce your PFML benefit entitlement.⁹

Federal FMLA requires 12 months of employment, at least 1,250 hours worked in the past year, and a worksite with 50 or more employees within 75 miles.¹⁰ Washington PFML sets a lower bar: 820 hours anywhere in the state, plus (for job protection) 180 days with an employer of 25 or more. Many employees who fall short of federal FMLA still qualify for state paid leave and job protection.

A 2026 change lets employers coordinate the two more aggressively. Employers may count unpaid FMLA leave against an employee’s PFML job-protection time, which is typically 16 weeks per year. Coordination is optional, and employers that choose it must give the employee written notice within five business days of the leave request explaining how the leave counts and confirming that PFML benefit eligibility is unaffected.¹¹

Health insurance is another place the two programs diverge. If your leave qualifies under federal FMLA, your employer must maintain your group health insurance on the same terms as if you were still working, including family coverage.¹² If your leave qualifies only under PFML and not FMLA, that federal insurance-continuation requirement does not apply. Check your employer’s policy on benefits during leave.

Vacation and General PTO

Washington has no law requiring employers to offer paid vacation, holidays, or general PTO. These are contractual benefits between you and your employer.¹³ The state Department of Labor and Industries does not enforce vacation policies. If you have a dispute, your remedy runs through contract law, not labor regulations.

Because no statute governs accrual, employers have wide latitude to set terms. Use-it-or-lose-it policies that forfeit unused vacation at year end are permissible if clearly communicated in writing. If your handbook or employment agreement establishes a vacation benefit, your employer is bound by the terms it set, but those terms can include forfeiture deadlines and accrual caps. Read the policy carefully. Details vary enormously from one employer to the next.

What Gets Paid Out When You Leave

The rules on unused leave at separation depend entirely on the type.

Sick leave: your employer does not have to pay out your remaining sick-leave balance when you separate. If the same employer rehires you within 12 months, however, your previously accrued sick leave must be reinstated.²

Vacation and PTO: state law does not require employers to pay out unused vacation unless the employer’s policy or your employment contract promises it.¹³ If a written policy says unused vacation will be paid at separation, that promise is enforceable. Without one, you generally forfeit the balance. This is the single biggest source of confusion about PTO in Washington, and the answer almost always comes down to what your handbook says.

Whatever the leave situation, your employer must pay all wages owed by the end of the established pay period after you stop working.¹⁴

Jury Duty and Military Leave

Washington employers must give you enough time off to serve on a jury when you are summoned.¹⁵ The statute requires the time but does not require the employer to pay you during jury service. Some do as a matter of policy. Your employer cannot fire or penalize you for responding to a summons.

If you leave your job for military service, the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) protects your seniority-based benefits. When you return, your employer must treat you as though you had been continuously employed, which means any PTO accrual tied to length of service has to reflect the years you spent in uniform.¹⁶ Your employer also cannot force you to use vacation or PTO to cover a military absence. You may choose to use it if you want the income, but the choice is yours.

Sick Leave and Overtime

A common question for hourly workers: does paid sick leave count toward overtime hours? Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, payments for time when no work is performed, including sick leave, vacation, and holidays, are excluded from the regular rate used to calculate overtime.¹⁷ If you use eight hours of sick leave and work 36 hours in the same week, you have not “worked” 44 hours for overtime purposes. Those eight sick-leave hours do not push you past the 40-hour threshold.

1
Washington State Legislature. RCW 49.46.200 – Paid Sick Leave
2
Washington State Department of Labor & Industries. Paid Sick Leave
3
Washington State Legislature. RCW 49.46.210 – Paid Sick Leave – Authorized Purposes – Limitations
4
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code Chapter 49.46 RCW – Minimum Wage Act
5
Washington State Legislature. Title 50A RCW – Family and Medical Leave
6
Washington State Legislature. RCW 50A.15.020 – Eligibility for Benefits
7
Washington State’s Paid Family and Medical Leave. Small Businesses – 150 Employees or Fewer
8
Washington State’s Paid Family and Medical Leave. Job Protection for Employees
9
Washington State’s Paid Family and Medical Leave. Find Out How Paid Leave Works
10
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #28 – The Family and Medical Leave Act
11
Washington State’s Paid Family and Medical Leave. Job Protection Requirements for Employers
12
eCFR. 29 CFR 825.209 – Maintenance of Employee Benefits
13
Washington State Department of Labor & Industries. Holiday, Vacation and Bereavement Leave
14
Washington State Legislature. RCW 49.48.010 – Payment of Wages
15
Washington State Legislature. RCW 2.36.165
16
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 USC 4316
17
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #56A – Overview of the Regular Rate of Pay Under the Fair Labor Standards Act