Paid Family Leave Planner · Paid leave by state
Paid leave in Washington
Weeks, pay, and how to stack it - the Washington programs below, with the official sources and the dates the rules were checked.
State rules checked 2026-11-10 (rules file v1.0.1).
The programs
Paid Family & Medical Leave
90% of wages on the first $915/week, 50% above that. Minimum $100/week, maximum $1,647/week.
12 weeks family + 12 weeks medical, up to 16 weeks combined (18 with pregnancy incapacity - this planner uses 18 when delivery is cesarean).
Maximum $1,647/week. Minimum $100/week. Waiting period: the first 7 days of a claim are unpaid - but there is no waiting week for postnatal medical leave or for bonding leave, the leave this planner models.
Waiting period: the first 7 days of a claim are unpaid, once per claim year, and the waiting week does not reduce your total weeks. There is no waiting week for medical leave taken in the postnatal period or for bonding leave - the two kinds of leave this planner models - so birth plans here are paid from week 1. The waiting week does apply to family caregiving leave and to medical leave not taken upon a birth (WAC 192-500-185; paidleave.wa.gov/file-your-weekly-claim).
Rules effective January 1, 2026. Source: Washington Paid Leave (paidleave.wa.gov); waiting period per WAC 192-500-185, checked 2026-11-10.
How it stacks
One program - Paid Family & Medical Leave - covers both recovery and bonding. Medical weeks and family weeks come out of one combined limit: 16 weeks. With pregnancy incapacity the combined limit rises to 18 weeks.
One program covers both recovery and bonding. File through Washington Paid Family & Medical Leave.
Federal FMLA job protection, if you qualify, runs at the same time as the paid weeks. It does not add paid weeks after them. Employer paid leave, a short-term disability policy, and PTO can fill the unpaid gaps - the calculator stacks all of it on one timeline.
Job protection
Pay and job protection are separate tracks. The FMLA track below shows federal protection if you qualify; Washington's program has its own rules - see the official program site.
Federal FMLA gives up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave if you qualify: employer with 50+ employees within 75 miles, 12+ months on the job, and 1,250+ hours worked in the last year. It pays nothing. It runs at the same time as paid leave, not after it.
Questions
- How much does paid leave pay in Washington?
- Paid Family & Medical Leave: 90% of wages on the first $915/week, 50% above that. Minimum $100/week, maximum $1,647/week.
- How many weeks of paid leave do you get in Washington?
- Paid Family & Medical Leave: 12 weeks family + 12 weeks medical, up to 16 weeks combined (18 with pregnancy incapacity - this planner uses 18 when delivery is cesarean).
- Is there a waiting period?
- Paid Family & Medical Leave has a 7-day waiting period - the first 7 days are unpaid, except there is no waiting week for postnatal medical leave or for bonding leave.
- Does Washington paid leave protect your job?
- Pay and job protection are separate tracks. The FMLA track below shows federal protection if you qualify; Washington's program has its own rules - see the official program site.
- How do you file, and in what order?
- One program covers both recovery and bonding. File through Washington Paid Family & Medical Leave.