Washington workers will see a higher deduction on their paychecks come January 1, 2027 as the state collects more taxpayer money for its paid leave program.
The Washington State Employment Security Department recently announced that the total Paid Family and Medical Leave premium rate will increase to 1.2% of gross wages, up from 1.13% in 2026.
Paid Leave is funded by premiums collected from employees and employers in Washington state. By law, the Employment Security Department recalculates the premium rate annually in October based on program usage and premiums collected the previous year.
“More than 221,000 individuals have claimed Paid Leave benefits in the first 9 months of 2026, totaling more than $1.8 billion," the department's release said.
The rate has been steadily increasing since its inception.
“The 1.2% rate is triple the program’s starting rate of 0.40% in 2019 and a 6.2% increase from last year," wrote Washington Policy Center’s Elizabeth New who heads up WPC’s Center for Worker Rights and Health Care Policy.
"This new rate of 1.2% is also PFML’s current statutory cap — a cap that some lawmakers say they want to bust,” she added.
Washington's average annual covered wage is $99,810, using the 2025 wage figure reported by the Employment Security Department.
A worker making that wage, along with their employer would have paid more than $1,100 dollars into PFML last year.
Employees pay 70.7% of the total premium. Employers pay the remaining 29.3%.
Groups such as Washington Work and Family Coalition advocate for the program.
"At some point, almost everyone needs to take time away from work, whether to care for a new child, help a family member who is sick, or recover from their own illness," the group said on its website.
"Care is the foundation of our economy — we wouldn’t have a workforce with no one to care for employees — and it’s a key component of leading a fulfilling life.
In her recent article, New noted that PFML is not the safety net many people were sold.
“Lower-wage workers use the program less, while middle- and higher-wage workers account for a larger share of claims," she wrote.
"In fiscal year 2026, workers making $61 or more an hour accounted for 19% of PFML claims, compared with 8% for workers in the lowest wage group — more than twice the share.”
In a Monday interview with The Center Square, New explained that lower income workers often can’t afford to take a cut in pay offered by PFML, which for lower income workers, pays 90% of a weekly wage, maxing out at $1,647 per week.
“I think people really need to realize that they could be making more money if it weren't for programs like this. And the money that they earn could be used on needs that they have,” said New.
“So, for the past few years in the legislature, they've been saying, this program's so popular, we might need to increase the cap," New added.
"So, there's talk about raising the cap to 2%. So, this is concerning. We're constantly taking money from some workers who need it and giving it to others who don't.”
SB 5292 was introduced in the 2025 session and originally sought to require the Employment Security Department Commissioner to set the paid family and medical leave program premium rate based on the Office of Actuarial Services annual report.
As passed, the bill did not lift the cap entirely, but New said she expects some version of that part of the legislation to resurface.
Efforts to change PFML
“Legislators should be discussing repeal of this misguided program or at least benefit-side changes to it, instead. Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, has suggested several of them, including my favorites — ending repeat use of PFML and limiting the duration of benefits,” wrote New.
Senate Ways and Means ranking member Sen. Chris Gildon, R-Puyallup, also proposed ending PFML double-dipping that allows public employees to make more money while on leave than while working.
Neither bill received a public hearing.
As reported by The Center Square, five years into the program’s inception, Employment Security had to ask lawmakers for roughly $23 million to hire 98 employees to administer the program.
In 2024, 46% of paid-leave recipients in the fiscal year were repeat users, meaning it was at least their second time using PFML, and Allison Eldridge, deputy director of leave and care at the Washington Employment Security Department, told lawmakers in the House Labor and Workplace Standards Committee they projected some 377,000 people will apply for PFML benefits in 2027.
