A recent report from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC) highlights the urgent need to stabilize funding and strengthen the operational capacity of Washington State’s Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program. Despite these findings, a legislative proposal to expand eligibility to workers with just three months of employment threatens to undermine these critical objectives.
Currently, Washington’s eligibility requirements align with federal Family and Medical Leave standards: workers must accumulate 820 hours within the first four of the last five completed quarters. Despite this threshold, PFML usage has far exceeded initial projections. Since premium collections began in 2019, program costs have increased 130%. Actuarial models predict that, at the current rate, premiums will reach the statutory cap of 1.2% by 2028.
Operational challenges within the Employment Security Department (ESD), which oversees the program, exacerbate the strain. Staffing shortages, delayed audits, overpayments, and an inability to meet customer service demands are ongoing issues. Even if funding is approved in the next biennium, it will take at least two years to scale staffing and infrastructure to meet demand.
Prematurely expanding eligibility jeopardizes the JLARC recommendations and risks delaying necessary program improvements. Timing is critical. To ensure the program’s long-term success for both workers and employers, the focus must remain on stabilizing PFML’s finances and resolving operational issues— not further expansion.
