Leave of Absence

The Paid Family and Medical Leave program is a mandatory statewide insurance program that provides paid family and medical leave to eligible employees. The program is administered by the Employment Security Department (ESD). Washington’s Paid Family and Medical Leave program does not replace the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). In many cases, PFML and FMLA will run at the same time.

The federal Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is an unpaid leave entitlement that provides job and health insurance protection when eligible employees take a leave of absence for a qualifying reason. The Washington State Paid Family & Medical Leave (PFML) program is a state of Washington program that provides partial wage replacement in the form of a weekly benefit paid by ESD while claiming this benefit. 

Human Resources determines when to designate a leave as FMLA covered. Employees choose whether and when to file a PFML claim. PFML does not replace FMLA. In many cases PFML and FMLA will run at the same time.

Employees can receive PFML benefits if they have been employed for at least 820 hours (about 16 hours a week) in the state of Washington during the “qualifying period” and experience a qualifying event. 

A qualifying event is the thing that happens for which you need to take leave. Not all illnesses, injuries or situations will qualify you to take Paid Family and Medical Leave. The law says, “paid family leave [is] for the birth or placement of a child with the employee, for the care of a family member who has a serious health condition, and for a qualifying exigency under the federal family and medical leave act,” and “paid medical leave [is] for an employee’s own serious health condition.”

Beginning January 1, 2020, paid family and medical leave is available and benefits are payable to qualified employees. The weekly PFML benefit amount is calculated by ESD and is generally up to 90% of weekly wages, with a minimum of $100 per week and a maximum of $1,206 per week. ESD provides a benefits calculator on their website to estimate the amount.

The District does not allow use of leave accruals (sick, personal, vacation) to make up the difference between regular wages and the benefit paid by PFML. Employees must be in unpaid status with NSD while collecting the state's benefit.

Employees can apply for paid leave benefits online through the Employment Security Department’s Paid Family & Medical Leave webpage. Filing a claim for paid leave benefits with ESD is a separate process from taking a leave of absence from the District. Employees should begin a leave of absence by following the appropriate LOA request process, including completing medical or other supporting documentation (e.g., a FMLA Health Care Provider Statement). ESD and Northshore cannot share medical documentation, but ESD may accept a copy of the medical documentation already provided to the District as part of the PFML claim.

Generally, the process looks like this:

Step 1: Individuals will create a Benefit Account (not an employer account) with ESD, provide contact information, confirm Washington state employment (Northshore’s UBI #: 179011558), leave type requested, dates of the leave, date notice was provided to NSD, and documentation supporting the leave of absence.

Step 2: ESD will use hours and wage information they receive quarterly from all employers in Washington to determine eligibility. ESD will contact NSD to confirm details of the employee’s claim.

Step 3: Once ESD approves the claim, individuals will submit weekly claims to ESD for the paid benefit.