Washington state law temporarily amended the state’s Paid Family and Sick Leave Act (PFML) to create pandemic leave assistance grants for certain workers and employers. Employees and employers can only apply for these grants on August 1, 2021. This change expires on June 30, 2023.
Employee grants for pandemic leave support
Currently, an employee is generally entitled to PFML if they are in a serious state of health and have worked 820 hours in the waiting period. This period is the (1) first four of the last five complete calendar quarters or (2) the last four complete calendar quarters immediately before the vacation request. However, many employees had to cut their working hours or lose their jobs altogether due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and can now no longer show enough working hours to qualify for PFML.
The temporary change does not change the legally required working hours or the waiting time. Instead, a new pandemic leave support grant will be created and an employee’s hours worked in 2019 and early 2020, i.e. before the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the state economy was felt. If an employee applies for PFML with an effective start date for any point in 2021 through March 31, 2022 but fails to meet the statutory working time requirement, the employee will be eligible for a Pandemic Leave Assistance Grant if they either:
Worked 820 hours in 2019; or
Worked 820 hours in the second to fourth calendar quarters of 2019 and the first calendar quarter of 2020.
An employee is not entitled if he does not have enough working hours due to a separation of the employment relationship due to misconduct or a voluntary separation that is not related to COVID-19.
The grant amount is in line with normal PFML performance, and employees must follow the same rules for obtaining PFML. Employees may not receive a grant for a week in which they have received, received, or will receive unemployment benefit, employee compensation, or any other applicable federal unemployment benefit, industrial insurance, or disability insurance.
Employer subsidies for pandemic leave support
The law currently provides grants for two categories of employers: (1) employers with 150 or fewer employees; and (2) employers with 50 or fewer employees who choose to pay the PFML employer-based bonuses. If an employer hires a temporary worker to replace an employee at PFML for seven days or more, the employer can receive a $ 3,000 grant. If an employee’s PFML causes significant additional labor costs, an employer can receive a grant of up to $ 1,000 in reimbursement. There are additional rules under this grant program.
As part of the temporary change, these existing grants will be made available to employers with employees in PFML employers whose employees will receive grants for pandemic leave support. Unfortunately, employers who have their own voluntary plans are not eligible for these grants.
Jackson Lewis PC © 2021National Law Review, Volume XI, Number 112
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