Washington’s paid family leave premiums to increase Jan. 1

OLYMPIA, Wash. – The payroll premiums on employees’ wages to pay for Washington state’s paid household and medical go away program will improve on Jan. 1.

The state’s Employment Safety Division introduced Thursday that the speed will improve from 0.6% to 0.8% of wages to maintain tempo with the variety of folks utilizing this system, with a lot of the share persevering with to be paid by workers.

The premium improve comes simply weeks after an evaluation of the monetary well being of Washington state’s paid household go away program estimated the fund would hit an $8.7 million deficit by the tip of the yr.

The actuarial evaluation by the consulting agency Milliman that was just lately offered to a legislative process pressure confirmed that the present premium fee just isn’t maintaining with demand for the state profit that launched in 2020 and it beneficial growing the speed.

When premiums first had been enacted, 0.4% of employees’ wages funded this system, with 63% paid by workers and 37% paid by employers. A rise to 0.6% had already gone into impact earlier this yr, and workers’ share elevated to about 73%, with the rest paid by employers.

Underneath the regulation, eligible employees obtain 12 weeks paid day without work for the start or adoption of a kid or for a critical medical situation of the employee or the employee’s member of the family, or 16 weeks for a mix of each. An extra two weeks could also be used if there’s a critical well being situation with a being pregnant. Relations within the army additionally qualify for go away to spend time with service members about to be deployed abroad or who return house from deployment.

Weekly advantages are calculated primarily based on a share of the worker’s wages and the state’s weekly common wage — which is now $1,586. Although the weekly quantity paid out is at present capped at $1,327, that’s set to extend in January to $1,427.

Considerations about long-term solvency for this system emerged earlier this yr, with a warning in January that this system would hit a deficit by March. Lawmakers put aside $350 million within the state supplemental price range that handed earlier this yr to handle any deficit that exists on June 30, 2023, the tip of the fiscal biennium.