The Washington State Paid Family and Medical Leave started on January first, 2019, as a new shared benefit program called Paid Family and Medical Leave implemented in the state of Washington. Paid Family and Medical Leave is a statewide insurance program. Nearly all employers in the State of Washington are responsible under the Paid Family and Medical Leave program.
With very few exceptions, employers have a responsibility to:
1. Report employee wages, hours worked, and other information for all employees.
2. Collect and remit premiums.
Washington’s Paid Family and Medical Leave is organized as an insurance program. Initiated Jan. 1, 2019, most employers started collecting up to 63% of each employee’s Paid Family and Medical Leave premium from their paychecks. Employers may elect to pay all or some of their employees’ premiums on their behalf.
In 2019, the initial premium was 0.4% for the year and could be adjusted annually after 2020 by the Employment Security Department, according to rules set by the statute.
Under the statue, employers with fewer than 50 employees are not required to pay the employer portion of the premium but are still required to collect and remit the employee portion.
In BIS, the form for configuring the Washington State Paid Family and Medical Leave is found in the State Tax Information for the state of Washington, located in System Wide Parameters, PR tab, Taxes subtab, State Tax Information button.
The Paid Family and Medical Leave process can be enabled or disabled.
The Premium percent can be split between employees and the company. Use the Employee Share Percent and Company Share Percent boxes to split the Premium Percent.
BIS added a system payroll deduction called “Paid Family & Medical Leave”. The deduction code can vary (i.e., 60, 61, 62, …) but the description will be always the same.
If the process is enabled in System Wide Parameters, the payroll deduction is automatically added and calculated for each employee working in the state of Washington. The calculation will be displayed on the Totals tab in the Payroll Hours and Adjustments, CD Payroll Check and Recurring Payroll forms.
The Check Run Report can be obtained after printing/filing and saving payroll checks. This report displays debit and credit amounts applied for the WA Paid Family and Medical Leave program.
When processing a payroll check, a Journal Entry is created that includes debit and credit amounts applied for the WA Paid Family and Medical Leave program.
Washington State Paid Family and Medical Leave (Summary and Detail) reports are available that list the activity by employees.
Sample Query:
Sample Report:
