Washington’s Paid Family and Medical Leave is just around the corner. I’ve had the great pleasure of traveling the state and speaking with many Chambers about our program and I am writing to touch bases before we close out 2018.
On Friday, November 30th our program started a series of emails to more than 600,000 employers in Washington. Local Chambers of Commerce may receive inquiries from their members as a result and we want to help prepare you and your team for those questions.
Starting in 2019, nearly all Washington employers will be required to:
- Collect premiums from employee paychecks and remit them to the Employment Security Department. (Withhold from first paycheck of 2019)
- Report employee wages, hours, and more to ESD (New report, first report in April 2019)
- Provide notice of this program to employees. (Provided by ESD before January 2020)
We have several resources that may help your members prepare for 2019.
Employer Toolkit
This is the best resource to get started with Paid Family and Medical Leave. It includes details about the program, premiums, reporting, and more. We are often asked for language to share with employees about this program, including employee handbook suggestions, and you can find that information in the toolkit.
Download our Employer Toolkit on our Employer Page
Webinar Series
We have posted a recorded webinar to our website. This webinar is a program overview and is a good place to learn the basics of the program, as well as details about premiums and reporting. Future live webinars will be announced on our Events Page.
Share our recorded webinar on our Employer Webinar Page
Newsletter
Important parts of our program are still in development and employers are encouraged to sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date with new developments.
Sign up for our Newsletter
Website
We’ve moved! Earlier this year we launched PaidLeave.wa.gov. In the coming weeks will finish migrating information from our previous home, esd.wa.gov/paid-family-medical-leave. Some information will remain on esd.wa.gov, but if you have a blog post or newsletter link from earlier this year, it may be useful to change that link to paidleave.wa.gov.
Visit PaidLeave.wa.gov
I am always happy to answer your questions, but you may receive an answer fastest by reaching out to our Customer Care Team. I am traveling a lot these days and I want you to be aware we have a team of people standing by to help you and your members find answers to your Paid Family and Medical Leave questions.
Customer Care Team email: PaidLeave@esd.wa.gov
Thank you, and have a wonderful day!
Matt LaPalm | Paid Family and Medical Leave
Washington Employment Security Department
640 Woodland Sq. Loop SE | Lacey, WA 98503
mlapalm@esd.wa.gov|360-489-2303
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